Chapters Discord's Family Vacation
The day was finally here, Spike had been waiting for this for ages. A day he didn't need to be signing documents until his claws ached. Discord helped as much as he could but a rising nation was difficult to manage while raising a child no matter how much magic or might you possessed. Draco was just as much of a clawful as and kid but the problem was that there was no guessing what powers or abilities he would grow into or discover. Being a completely unique organism made it impossible to know. Discord said that he discovered his abilities around Draco's current age but didn't master them until he made a celestial contract with Thuban centuries later. Spike was constantly worried about his beloved son's unknown fate, but for now his cares were far away.
Spike found Discord packing an absurd array of items into a suitcase that was apparently bottomless. Discord dropped an entire dresser into the suitcase somehow before Spike saw fit to speak up.
"Discord, we're only going away for a week. We don't need much stuff, & why a dresser? Neither of us wear clothes unless you're doing some kind of gag & even then you just poof them into existence." Spike asked genuinely curious.
"Well, I've never been on vacation before. How am I supposed to know what to bring? I want to make sure everything goes smoothly for Dracums first big trip away from home." Discord said as he unceremoniously tossed a saxophone & a very agitated changeling into the suitcase. Spike only sighed & pulled the insectoid pony back out & apologized for his husband's antics.
"Hun, we aren't taking any of the castle staff with us. Just you, me, & Draco." Spike said enumerating them with his claws as he spoke. Discord said nothing but his eyes darted to a hat box in the corner of the room. Spike put on an annoyed expression before opening the box. To his surprise, Gustav their griffon chef popped out & took a deep breath before exiting the room in a huff. Spike was sure to give him a substantial end of the year bonus.
"While you finish alienating the help I'm going to go get Draco. We'll meet you in the throne room in an hour." Spike said before giving Discord a peck on the cheek.
Spike walked down the hall to a bright teal door that had sign that read "Draco's room" in a multitude of colors. It was an early art project of Draco's. Being only five didn't slow their son down, he was already reading up a storm much to his grandmother's delight, as well as finger painting works of art that would make renaissance artists weep from the untamed beauty. Several had been sold for charity with Draco's permission. Spike opened the door to find his son's surprisingly orderly room. Strangely enough the room was empty at first glance. Spike's parental instincts kicked in immediately & he began to panic. He overturned everything he could in the room before he heard a loud giggling coming from above. Spike looked up to see Draco floating in mid air.
"Hi daddy! look at me! I'm just like papa!" Draco said as he spun in the air.
"Y-you're flying? But you're so young! Discord! Get in here!" Spike said as he ran to the hall. Discord poofed into the room in a kung-fu stance & immediately looked around the room for signs of trouble. He looked up to see his son floating above him, his expression changed to match Draco's. Pure delight.
"Draco! You're levitating! Papa's so proud! I couldn't do that until after I learned to use my wings!" Discord said as he joined him in the air. Spike was confused but sure enough Draco's little feathery wings were completely still. Spike was proud of the little guy but his fears of uncontrollable powers were creeping back. But he pushed them back again & joined his family in their revelry.
Soon after the trio arrived in the throne room Draco floating around his parents in orbit overjoyed at his new found power & the thought of seeing his extended family in Ponyville. Spike & Discord had put a hold on court for the week & a large number of changelings were to keep close watch & run maintenance. Their hivemind had been reestablished thanks to Discord's magic so long as they agreed to stay out of trouble. Spike went over everything several times with them even though they all retained each other's knowledge.
"Spikkkkkkkkeee"
"Daddddddddyyy"
His husband & son chorused behind him in perfect sync. He knew they were impatient so he admitted defeat & joined hands with them. Discord & Draco smiled brightly as Discord snapped his tail fur as if it were a hand. There was a bright flash of light & when it cleared they stood in the center of the Ponyville library which was run by Dinky Doo but was used as a go between when the Chimera Kingdom royals wanted to go directly to Ponyville. Dinky was payed handsomely for keeping this a secret. The library was closed today but there waiting for them was princess Twilight Sparkle. Before she could say anything a green giggling bullet knocked her to the floor with astonishing speed.
"Grandma! I missed you! Look what I can do!" Draco yelled as he floated around the room just as fast as he could. Twilight righted herself & looked at her grandson with wonder & back to Spike & Discord.
"When did this happen?" She asked eyes going back to Draco who was now looking over the books on the top shelf.
"Just this morning! Isn't it wonderful? Our little prodigy just added another skill to his already impressive list." Discord said with no small amount of smugness.
"We haven't seen him do anything else magic related yet but it seems it's definitely possible." Spike said with an equal measure of worry. Twilight sighed but continued to smile.
"Reminds me of the first time you stuck a ruby in your mouth, scared me to death when you took a bite out of it... Oh Celestia, I really do sound like a grandmother now don't I?" She asked as she summoned a mirror to check for gray hairs in her mane. Spike rolled his eyes but was used to her feeling older than she was.
"Well we tried giving him gems but he didn't seem to like them much." Spike said shrugging.
"They tasted like rocks!" Draco said floating back over to his family. He landed on Discord's head & began reading a book he had taken from the shelf. A collective "Awww" was heard from the older creatures but Draco merely made the "shh" motion with his little digits.
"We're in a library!" He whisper-yelled at them. Everyone present giggled at this but he merely continued reading. Twilight left a note for Dinky saying that Draco had borrowed a book & they left the library. First stop, Fluttershy's house.
Author's Note
Papa= Discord
Discord's Family Vacation
The four decided to fly or levitate to Fluttershy's cottage to placate Draco's incessant whining on the subject. He was disappointed however that it took far less time than he had wanted it to. Spike couldn't help but notice that he hadn't seen Draco land for more than a few minutes since he had discovered his new found talent.
"Draco? Doesn't that get tiring after awhile?" Spike asked unsure that his son wasn't over exerting himself.
"No way! This is way less tiring than walking around!" Draco said doing a loop de loop as the others landed. Spike shrugged it off & they walked up to the cottage. The living house had obviously been expanded upon as it was nearly twice as large as before. Discord knocked on the door which was answer by Zecora who offered them a sincere smile as she ushered them in.
"Always good to see you, my chimerical crew. My wife will be down soon, she is in the powder room." She said in her typical lyrical fashion.
"Zecora!" Fluttershy yelled both angry & embarrassed from somewhere upstairs. While she was yelling hoofsteps could be heard, soon a young zebra came into view. His eyes lit up & he trotted down the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him.
"Uncle Spike! Uncle Discord! Draco! I haven't seen you in forever!" He said hugging each of them individually. Draco hugged back with great enthusiasm.
"Akutchi! You grew! You got your mark!" Draco pointed to the colt's flank. Sure enough there was a grayish outline heart with a cross in it.
"It means Akutchi has a future in medicine." A familiar angelic voice stated from the top of the stairs. Discord immediately teleported to the top of the stairs & pulled her into a hug.
"Oh Fluttershy, how have you been? Have the critters been minding you well?" Discord asked happily while Fluttershy merely giggled.
"Oh yes, the animals have been wonderful, they have much more space to run around in than before thanks to Zecora using a growth potion on the tree." Fluttershy stated with a smile aimed at her wife. As Discord placed Fluttershy back down he was pelted in the back of the head with a carrot. He turned to see a familiar white rabbit on the banister behind him.
"Angelica! We've been over this, guests get treated just like anyone else." Fluttershy stated with a motherly but annoyed voice. Discord's ears perked at this.
"Angelica? I thought his name was Angel?" Discord said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, it was. Bunnies don't live too long, Angelica is Angel's daughter. She's only two." Fluttershy said slightly mournfully but motioned for Angelica to come to her. Angelica darted toward her & took a place on Fluttershy's head. Discord sighed & accepted the fact that his bunny war was ongoing. The draconequus & pegasus walked down the stairs rejoining their respective families.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Spike asked Fluttershy & Zecora.
"We thought maybe we could all have a picnic at the saltwater pond I made for my exotic fish." Fluttershy said motioning to a wicker picnic basket on an adjacent table.
"Sounds delightful, but are you sure we have enough? Spike can really chow down & Discord has three stomachs." Twilight said motioning to the tall nearly serpentine figures behind her.
"Don't worry about it Twilight. I've got us covered." Discord said snapping his fingers producing several duplicate baskets which he looped his tail into the handles of. Draco & Akutchi clapped to which Discord bowed absorbing the attention. Spike & Twilight merely rolled their eyes but said nothing. The group soon departed for the spot Fluttershy had picked. True to her word the large pond was surrounded by sand & the water was clear & bright just like the ocean. As the adults set up the picnic Akutchi & Draco splashed around in the shallows.
"Do you know how to swim?" Akutchi asked Draco out of curiosity.
"I've never tried, we don't have a pool back home." Draco said staring at the saltwater pond before jumping in headfirst. Akutchi was also unable to swim so he immediately panicked. He ran off to the adults as fast as possible. Everyone turned to see the ten year old panting before them. Draco *huff* pond *huff* can't swim *huff*. Discord, was already at the pond as soon as Akutchi had uttered the word pond. Everyone looked over to him but he was just staring at the pond with a look of pride on his face. Spike looked at his husband in confusion.
"What? Is he alright? Is he swimming? Mom, camera!" Spike said as he ran over to Discord. Twilight summoned a camera and trotted right behind him. The others ran over as well, Zecora with Akutchi on her back. Everyone gasped as they saw what was before them. Draco was snaking through the water at astonishing speeds that would easily give any fish a run for it's money. Spike was speechless, he himself wasn't a very adept swimmer & Discord was pretty bad at it due to his mismatched body. Draco was apparently a natural however. Twilight was snapping photos left & right trying to get a good shot of the speeding toddler. Spike was worried when Draco dove deeper & was lost to his sight. Several moments had passed since he had been visible.
"That's it, I'm going in!" Spike shouted as he put his clawed hands into diving position. Before he could jump in three unmistakable head fins breached the water followed by the rest of their son.
"Daddy! Papa! I found a thing!" Draco stated floating above the water. He seemed to be holding a misshapen multi-branched... thing that Spike couldn't identify.
"Draco, put that down! You don't know where that's been." Spike shouted mustering his parental authority.
"Yeah I do, it was at the bottom of the pond! & it smells sooo good! I had to go get some!" Draco stated before munching happily on some of it.
"Oh my, that's a piece of coral. It's mostly harmless but I've never seen anypony eat it before." Fluttershy stated with her patented tone of concern.
"Draco, you said you smelled it? Underwater?" Discord stated grabbing his son as he walked across the surface of the pond. He inspected Draco for a moment before coming to a conclusion.
"It seems the stripes across Draco's nose are gills, our boy seems to be amphibious Sweetie." Discord said as he pointed to the aforementioned markings with his talons. Spike was a bit surprised at this but was more relieved that Draco was alright.
"You, gave us quite a scare son. Please let us know next time you're going to do something like that." Spike said wagging a finger at his son.
"Yes daddy." Draco said rolling his eyes. Before a thought crossed his mind. "Papa can we have a pool like this at home?" He said turning to Discord & giving him his best puppy dog eyes. Discord turned to Spike doing the same as did Draco. Spike merely sighed before giving in.
"Fine, but this counts as a birthday present." Spike said crossing his arms trying to avoid his family's piercing stares. Discord & Draco looked at each other & fist pumped in the air, causing everyone present to laugh loudly. After the excitement wore down the group returned to their picnic spot to find an impatient Angelica pointing to a basket. They all settled into their respective spots & munched away happily on various types of sandwiches. Spike, Discord, & Draco had special sandwiches containing meat clearly marked to avoid mishaps. Fluttershy was surprisingly alright with this, she reasoned that different creatures had different dietary needs. She even on occasion caught fish for some of the injured predatory animals who couldn't hunt. She didn't stick around to watch them eat during those instances however. But she seemed fine with the processed deli meats as there was no blood. After everyone was finished Discord magicked a cooler into existence.
"Who wants dessert? I have all sorts of ice cream & more!" He said opening the cooler.
"Does Draco really need it? We hardly ever get him to sleep as is." Spike asked, arms crossed.
"I have strawberry with gem dust topping." Discord said levitating a bowl of the treat in front of his lover.
"You are the most evil being in existence. Never change." Spike said taking the treat & shoveling a spoonful into his mouth. With that everyone got their own treat. Twilight got blackberry cobbler Ala mode, Draco had mint chip ice cream with coral bits instead of chocolate upon request, Akutchi had a slice of zap-apple pie which was out of season, Fluttershy opted for a vanilla milkshake, Zecora had a cherry chip cake slice, & Angelica a piece of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Discord, being himself had a bowl of raspberry sherbet with chocolate sauce & red pepper flakes.
After everyone was bloated to satisfaction they rested a moment before returning to the cottage. After several hours of catching up the children were put to bed in Akutchi's bedroom. Draco had to be tucked in extra snuggly as he seemed to float upward when asleep.
"We really need to do something about that." Spike said to Discord who merely shrugged.
"He's got dragon & chimera magic immunity so there isn't much I can do about it other than glue pillows to the ceiling." Discord said after thinking for a moment. Spike gave Discord a look that told him that that was not an option. They eventually walked back downstairs to rejoin the others. Discord magicked their suitcase to him & motioned everypony closer.
"Now I know we don't get to see everypony very often but we thought that we'd bring you some souvenirs from the Chimera Kingdom." Spike said opening the case.
"Zecora, these are alchemical reagents from different cultures that call the kingdom home." Spike said as he handed Zecora many little labeled pouches.
"These are updated books about the biology & cultures of various sentient races that live back home." Discord said levitating identical stacks of books to Twilight & Fluttershy. Everypony thanked them for their gifts & in return was thanked for their hospitality. Not long later everyone went to their various rooms. Discord & Spike were sharing the guest room which Discord altered the bed of to fit them. Twilight teleported back to Canterlot but promised to see them all again before they returned home. The kings settled into their temporary bed holding one another.
"Discord, what'll we do if Draco gets too powerful for us to handle?" Spike asked as he snuggled his mismatched mate.
"Spike, I only turned out like I did because I didn't have any positive influences. Draco is surrounded by loved ones & an adoring public almost constantly. I know he's growing up pretty fast but we would never let him go down the same road I did." Discord said craning his neck to look Spike in the eyes. Spike knew from the look in Discord's eyes that he was right. Spike pulled him into a kiss lasting at least a minute.
"I love you" Spike said holding Discord tightly.
"I love you too Spike." He answered sincerely. With that the two drifted off not long after awaiting the next day of their family vacation.
Author's Note
Draco isn't as mismatched as Discord but is full of animal traits that even his father doesn't have. Chaos is unpredictable like that, & Draco is more than capable of eating jewels but doesn't like the taste.
For those of you that need a reminder this is what I designed Draco as:http://wulfricashbell.deviantart.com/art/Baby-Draco-421213171
Any who, Next Chapter: Apples Ahoy!
Discord's Family Vacation
Morning came & Spike awoke to an empty bed. It seems he had slept in, his suspicions were confirmed when he looked at the alarm clock. He stretched as he rose from the comfy bed though he almost wished he could stay longer. Spike & Discord hadn't slept in anytime in recent memory, what with all the work & parenting. Spike left the bed behind & walked out into the hallway, he could hear Discord singing some strange song that Spike had never heard before. Spike made his way down the stairs to see Discord cooking as he sang. Akutchi & Draco seemed confused but were enjoying the silly fast paced song. Fluttershy & Zecora were also at the table looking a little weirded out. As the song came to a close Discord spun in place so fast he became a blur & plates of scrambled eggs, hay bacon, & toast flew out miraculously landing in front of everypony present & Spikes empty seat. Everyone applauded Discord's antics as Spike took his seat opposite Discord's empty chair.
"Who's Charlie?" Spike asked when he was seated. Discord finished spinning & brought a talon up to his chin in thought.
"I have no idea, it just popped into my head. I'm not responsible for what goes on up there." Discord said knocking on his head with his lion's paw producing a sound that made Spike think of something hitting an empty oil drum. Spike merely rolled his eyes with a small smile while the children giggled. Everyone ate their breakfast & said their goodbyes with Draco being a little more than reluctant to leave his cousin. After some reassurances of future play dates & many hugs the trio left the cottage for their next destination: Sweet Apple Acres.
Meanwhile, at the aforementioned farm an orange mare wearing a stetson was tending to the trees that were her pride & joy. It was a hot summer day but she truly enjoyed her work. As she was about to turn & trot to another section of trees she saw something red out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see an apple, this would not be unusual given the location if this apple weren't half the size of the barn. Applejack was speechless at the majesty of this gargantuan fruit. She cautiously approached the fruit & poked it with her hoof. As soon as she did so a loud hiss of steam could be heard & a large door shaped seam appeared before her in the surface of the apple. The door slid apart revealing a bright light that caused Applejack to shield her eyes with a hoof before they adjusted. She saw three silhouettes standing before her. She immediately remembered what day it was upon seeing them & adopted a face of annoyance.
"Discord, ah know ya like makin an entrance but this is a bit much don't ya think?" She said obviously less than amused. At that instant the light went out revealing the royal family of the Chimera Kingdom wearing ridiculous space suits that looked ripped from a bad movie. Discord snapped his fingers & everything disappeared.
"You still have no sense of humor, but it is good to see you Applejack." Discord said disappointed that his extravagant show-boating went unappreciated.
"I wanted to just walk over here but I was outvoted." Spike said looking at his son & then to his husband.
"Ah don't mind none Spike, so long as he puts everything to rights without bein told." Applejack said trotting up to Draco & pulling him into a hug.
"Boy howdy, this little fella sure is growin ain't he?" She said releasing Draco who began circling the group in the air. "Well that's new, how long's he been flying round like that?" Applejack asked genuinely surprised.
"Yesterday, & apparently he has gills too." Spike said glancing up at the airborne toddler. Applejack didn't question it since it came from Spike not Discord. The group interrupted by the sound of the farmhouse door opening, out trotted two foalss about Draco's size but a couple years older. To the left was Mary (Maraschino) a bright red filly with a cream colored mane with crimson streaks & to the right was Golden Gala a filly with a rich gold coat & a mane identical to her twin sister's but had a green streak running through it. These were the children of Big Macintosh & Cherry Jubilee. Their parents were away on business in dodge junction as Cherry still maintained her cherry plantation. The girls skidded to a halt barely a foot in front of the group.
"Uncle Spike! Draco! Uncle Discord! We saw the big apple through the window!" The filly's yelled in unison reminding Spike of the CMC's uproarious cries of old. Spike ignored the ringing in his ears & knelt down to hug them. He scooped them up in one quick motion & lifted them up in his arms.
"Auntie AJ! We're taller than you now!" The twins said through giggles. To which everyone but Draco smiled, he merely rolled his eyes at his adoptive cousins. The adults & children split soon after as Discord & Spike had been drafted into helping tend trees. Discord was less then happy when Applejack forbade him from using magic but reluctantly went along. Draco was left alone with the twins, he loved them just as much as any other family he had but they made his ears ring all to often.
"So, what do you girls wanna do?" Draco said as he lowered himself closer to the ground.
"Hmm how about hide & seek?" Mary asked the other toddlers. They consented but Draco was disappointed when they told him he had to stay grounded since they couldn't fly.
"Fine, but I call not it!" Draco said in a huff as he crossed his stubby arms.
"Me too!" Shouted Maraschino as she trotted over to stand beside Draco.
"Aw, come on!" Shouted Gala who gave her sister the evilest adorable glare she could muster. Draco & Mary looked at one another & blew raspberries at Gala before sprinting off in opposite directions.
"The barn is base!" Mary shouted from somewhere unseen while Golden Gala stood there fuming. Eventually she relented & closed her eyes counting to one hundred.
Draco wasn't very agile on the ground & had difficulty climbing trees which were everywhere on the property. He resolved to find a large tree & hide behind it as he couldn't find anything else. He leaned against a particularly big tree & listened for his pursuer. In the distance he heard something that sounded suspiciously like *Gotcha!* followed by a strand of pseudo-curse words. He began panicking internally. Please don't let her find me, please don't let her find me, ran through his mind several times. This was merely a game of hide & seek but to the five year old this was life or death, he had inherited Discord's love of games & flare for being over dramatic. He froze as he heard hoofsteps coming down a nearby compacted dirt path. Please don't see me. Ran through his head as they drew, nearer he was tingling with anxiety. After a moment Golden Gala came into view & began looking around scanning the area for her little cousin. She turned in his direction & began walking toward him he didn't move at all he felt like every cell in his body had halted to prevent him from moving. She was now only a few feet from him but somehow didn't see him. She looked around again before trotting right past him!
"how did she not see me?" Draco said aloud before clamping his mouth shut with his tiny hands. When she didn't return at the noise he let himself relax a bit wiping sweat from his brow & letting out a breath. Seeing his hand his panic returned in spades. His skin was the same wood grained pattern brown as the apple tree he was hiding against. He did the only sensible thing he could think of & begun to run around screaming.
"Somebody help! I'm turning into wood! Daddy! Papa!" He yelled as he ran in circles. Golden Gala & Maraschino reached him at the same time. They were equally frightened & let out a simultaneous scream that was so loud several nearby apples exploded. Draco's cries were too quiet to be heard from the other end of the orchard but the twins' shriek reached the ears of the adults.
"That's the girls!" AJ cried in recognition. Without a word Discord wrapped his tail around her & spike & poofed them to the source of the noise. Applejack rushed over to the girls while Spike shot like a bullet to Draco with Discord not far behind. Spike froze when he saw the state his son was in. Aside from the odd pigmentation change he was sitting there blubbering looking to his parents.
"Daddy! I don't wanna be a tree!" He said looking at his stubby digits. Spike immediately scooped him up & realized that Draco's skin had the same extremely smooth scaled texture as before but it was just a different color, even the pale scales of his underbelly. Discord met up with them seconds later & touched Draco's underbelly with his lion paw. Discord looked Draco over from every angle & poked him in the belly again, Draco giggled a bit & began to calm down but he was still a bit worried.
"Papa, what's happening to me?" He asked Discord with worry evident in his adorable eyes.
"I'm going to find out sweetie, just hang on." Discord said before snapping his fingers making Fluttershy & family appear before them. They were visibly disoriented but Fluttershy saw the look of dread in Discord's eyes.
"Discord? Why are we at Sweet Apple Acres?" Fluttershy asked with a look of confusion & worry in her eyes. Discord stepped aside giving her a view of Draco who was held by a very nervous Spike. She rushed over to them & Spike lowered Draco to Fluttershy who held him delicately while checking for abnormalities aside from the obvious. She sighed in relief after a moment.
"Draco Sweetie, what were you doing when this happened?" She asked in her most soothing tone.
"We were playing hide hide & seek & I was hiding behind that tree, Gala was about to find me but she just walked right past me." Draco said pointing to the tree. Applejack trotted up to the tree & tapped it with a hoof but nothing happened. Fluttershy smiled at Draco for a second before looking up at his parents.
"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong, I think it's just a camouflage response. Draco, you just need to think about going back to normal & it should happen." She said looking back down to her adoptive nephew. Who began focusing with eyes closed & after a moment shivered before his normal colors returned to him.
"Tingly." He said as he opened his eyes to survey his scales in their original hue. He shot up into the air & floated to Fluttershy hugging her as hard as he could with his tiny arms. She merely giggled & returned the hug.
"You can probably learn to do that if you try, it seems like you have chameleon camouflage." Fluttershy said as she placed Draco back on the ground. Draco focused himself again & shivered before turning a plaid made of several shades of blue & green.
"Whoa." All three of the present children said in unison.
"I'll be the best hide & seeker of all time!" Draco said standing on his cloven hoofed rear legs in a familiar position as he returned to his original pigment. Spike looked over to Discord who had the largest prideful grin he could muster. The group shared a laugh at this, excluding the children who were unfamiliar with the stance. The Fluttershy family departed as the rest of the group made their way back to the farmhouse. Dinner was, as expected comprised mostly of apple products. Although they were surprised to see a cherry pie for dessert. Draco was heard but not seen as he wouldn't stop blending into everything around him. Spike eventually had to threaten to cancel the pool plan for him to return to a visible state. Draco pouted but the girls merely laughed at his misfortune & received a scolding from Applejack. The night went just as it had at Fluttershy's & the children were sent to bed. Cider was passed around & before the Royals wandered off to bed they gave Applejack a very nice bolo tie with an emerald shaped like an apple as the centerpiece. Applejack thanked them for it & insisted they take a bottle of the drink she shared a name with that she had bottled herself. They accepted & set off for the barn, because the Apple household didn't have a spare room. Discord modified it into a replica of their bedroom back home, aside from the large doors on the far wall. Spike gave Discord a hearty kiss for the taste of home without the work. The two exchanged "I love you's" & left the unexpected scare off the day behind them. They would need their rest for tomorrow was going to be very trying on their nerves.
Author's Note
I write like I see it. Discord loves Draco having all kinds of unexpected abilities & quirks, while Spike worries over it almost in Twilight fashion.
Next Chapter: The Impossible Pies!
Discord's Family Vacation
All was quiet in Sweet Apple Acres, it was early morning & none of the residents or guests were stirring as of yet. However this meant that no one saw the pink blur followed by a few smaller blurs moving nearly as fast. The blurs streamed into the barn without making any noise whatsoever. In the dim room the blurs became shady figures creeping up upon the occupants with unknown intent. Suddenly the largest figure motioned to the others with a nod. The middle one of the smaller intruders reached behind it's back & produced a sleeping rooster complete with nest from seemingly nowhere. How the unconscious fowl had remained as such was anyone's guess, the trespasser placed it on the nightstand delicately as it's hooves would allow. The figure motioned to the other shadowy ponies who took point behind the passed out poultry. They looked to their leader who whispered *now* to them, following their orders they each took a tail feather in their hooves & plucked. The sound of the distressed rooster & the startled screams of Spike & Discord were heard all the way to Canterlot.
As Spike held onto his amalgamated lover for dear life while screaming he saw a perturbed rooster frantically running about in front of four giggling ponies in stealth suits. As soon as everything had calmed down & Discord had opened his eyes the aforementioned draconequus began busting out laughing. Spike was significantly less amused as he was supposed to be on vacation & his alarm clock currently read 5:01AM.
"Pinkie, if you were anyone else I think I'd probably throw you in a dungeon for that." Spike said rubbing his temples.
"Aw, how'd you know it was me." She said removing the mask of her stealth suit.
"Well you're the only one I know that would sneak up on powerful immortal politicians with disturbed roosters & foals." Spike said gesturing to the three smaller assailants. One after the other they removed their masks, first was Strawberry Rhubarb a pink pegasus colt with an electric purple mane. Next was Chocolate Custard, a dark brown earth pony filly with a mane of white & light brown. Last was Banana Cream, an unusually tall & skinny unicorn colt of creamy yellow with a pure white mane. The Pie triplets were four years old & were already picking up Pinkie's abilities, much to no one's surprise. They looked at their uncles with big grins identical to their mother's like they had just done something worthy of praise, which was likely to happen considering their parentage. Nopony had any clue how the triplets were 2/3 anything other than earth pony, as far back as anypony could trace both Pinkie's & Joy Buzzer's families were earth pony but it was merely brushed of as a Pinkie Pie thing.
"My dear Pinkie, training the next generation of chaos bringers so early. You do these old hearts good." Discord said clutching a spot on his chest & another spot were an appendix would normally be. Spike could only roll his eyes & smile at the assorted flavors or crazy he was currently surrounded by.
Before anyone could say anything else both the ordinary door of the room & the door from the apple family barn burst open. The first door revealed several angry armored griffons, changelings, & diamond dogs. Through the other a very worried looking Applejack. Nobody said anything for a few minutes but everyone shared confused looks at each other.
...
"Are you okay your majesties?" A griffon guard asked after the awkward silence had cleared. Spike shot an angry glance at Discord before looking back to the guard.
"Yes we're just fine, we needed accommodations for the night so we came back to the castle. Nothing to worry about it's only a code D." Spike said as calmly as he could manage. The guards acknowledged him & saluted before exiting. Everyone was silent for a moment before Spike's annoyance resurfaced.
"Discord, I thought you just made a replica of our bedroom? Why are we back at the palace, & how did AJ & the Pies get here?" Spike asked turning to his husband.
"Well... I may have linked the spaces together so we're technically still in the barn & at home." Discord said playing with his tail nervously. Spike merely sighed before standing up & walking to the regular door.
"Come on everypony, as long as we're here we should get some breakfast. Discord, go get Draco & the twins & you're off the hook for messing with the fabric of reality again." Spike said as he showed the others to the hallway. Discord made a sigh of relief before he saluted & walked out the barn door. As the group walked down to the dining hall Applejack trotted closer to Spike & looked up at him.
"What exactly is a Code D?" She asked genuinely curious.
"Code D is when something weird or impossible happens because of Discord but results in nothing to worry about. The guards know to ignore anything strange for an hour or so after the call." Spike said as he waved at some changelings that appeared extremely busy.
"Excuse me for a minute." Spike said to the group as he went to talk to them. As Spike was chatting with them Discord appeared with Draco & the the Apple twins.
"Draco!" All four Pies yelled excitedly in sync as they lunged at him. Draco was quite fast in the air but unfortunately he was on the ground & half asleep. He was immediately made the center of a bone-crushing group hug.
"H-hi Auntie Pinkie, hi guys." He said through the walls of pony flesh he was entombed in. He managed to wriggle out & float above the group & regain his lost breath. The Pies were immediately sharing smiles & wide eyes as they saw Draco hover above them. Strawberry Rhubarb took wing & joined him with a huge smile.
"We can totally play flying games now! Auntie Rainbow has been teaching me when she visits." Strawberry said with a smug sense of accomplishment. Draco was immediately jealous & quickly tried to come up with a way to top his little cousin. Inspiration struck him & he looked at Strawberry with an even smugger expression as he changed color to match Pinkie's coat color. The Pies shared a look of wonderment before they all began shouting out color requests at the little draconian. He did his best to keep up with the demands but soon got a headache & returned to his original shade of pastel green.
"Okay, that tired me out. Can we go eat now?" Draco said as he turned to his Papa. Discord merely nodded & poofed them all into the dining hall including the changelings & Spike. Spike looked behind him to see the other group taking seats at the table he sighed & motioned for the changelings to join them for breakfast. The insect ponies merely shrugged & took their own spots at the lengthy table. A server came out to take their orders as soon as Spike rang the bell on the table. Everyone was instructed to order anything they wanted, as the staff knew how to make nearly anything. The only order they had trouble with was Custard's order of three chimmy-cherries & two cherry-chongas, fortunately Pinkie was able to explain them to the server.
After breakfast Spike told the changelings to keep up the good work & that they would resume their duties in a few days. The Apples departed back to Ponyville through the barn, but the Pies decided that the palace was much roomier then their home so more fun could be had. Spike reluctantly agreed but made them Pinkie swear to leave the changelings & guards alone so they could do their jobs.
"So, what's on the agenda Pinkie?" Discord said as he magicked a list & quill into her hooves. Pinkie merely stepped on Spike's foot making his mouth open like a garbage can while spitting fire. She threw the list into the inferno reducing it to ash before Spike forcibly shut his mouth with a claw.
"We don't need a list silly Billy, but we're gonna have fun!" She said taking a triumphant stance as an explosion of confetti & streamers seemingly from nowhere appeared behind her. The party mare extraordinaire pulled out a shiny new party cannon from somewhere behind her. Spike noticed that the triplets were doing the same. Before he could say anything there was a loud boom & flashes of color everywhere. When the multicolored smoke had cleared the large room they were in was decked out in streamers & party games had been set up everywhere in the blink of an eye.
"Pinkie there's only seven of us, isn't this a bit much?" Spike asked motioning to the bright decorations. As soon as he had finished a loud knock was heard at the door. Pinkie giggled & snorted as soon as it was heard. Draco floated over to answer the door. Beyond the door must have been a hundred citizens of the Chimera Kingdom of various species. Spike recognized many of them as castle staff or employees of places Spike & Discord frequented.
"Pinkie, did you organize a party for us from a different country with people you've never met before?" Discord asked as if it was an everyday occurrence. Spike however caught on that the two had been in league in this.
"Yup, you'd be amazed what the right font on a party invitation can accomplish." The crazy mare said with a smile.
"Okay, just checking." Discord said before snapping his fingers creating tables, chairs, & food & drink for the various guests. As everyone filed in Draco flew around excitedly greeting all the creatures he recognized. Spike knew that everyone would be too disappointed if he ushered them out. He sighed & reminisced at this classic Pinkie moment. Before long the party was in full swing with everyone laughing & socializing. Spike was very impressed that no one had spilled the beans about the party before now but decided to go with it. He walked over to the snack tables to get himself something but noticed a distressed looking Custard hiding behind one. He walked over to his niece who looked up at him with sad eyes.
"What's wrong? I don't think I've ever seen you so sad before Chocolate." He said to the little filly. She looked back to the floor not wanting to meet his gaze.
"Daddy is on tour with the circus, he couldn't come with us to see you & he won't be home for months." She answered nearly at the point of tears. Spike picked the filly up & hugged her.
"Now now, I know what it's like not to see a parent for a long time. Twilight is always so busy I hardly get to see her & she's my only parent. But no matter what, they love us. You know that, right?" He said holding the filly out in front of him. Chocolate was nodding but was still a bit down.
"You know, you have your mother, & your siblings with you & you've got us too. We're all here to make you smile Chocolate, now how about we go find your mom?" Chocolate hugged him tight & smiled through the tears as they headed off to find Pinkie.
After Spike had found Pinkie he really enjoyed the party. Even though he knew all in attendance he never got a chance to spend time with them. Pinkie had traded her day alone with them to make Spike, Discord, & Draco happy. Classic Pinkie Spike thought to himself. As the party wound down Spike noticed a large group standing around something. Upon walking over he saw it was Pinkie having a staring contest with his son Draco. Pinkie had a cheering section comprised of her children & Draco's was comprised of Discord & some castle staff. Pinkie was beginning to falter & sweat, she had never faced an opponent so good before. Draco was sitting there smugly with a taunting grin across his face. Spike pushed through the crowd & gave his son a disapproving look.
"Draco, we both know that you have a second pair of see through eyelids for underwater." Spike said looking at his son with arms crossed. Pinkie blinked, got on her hind legs & pointed at Draco.
"Cheater! I knew no one could beat me at a staring contest!" She yelled. The crowd gasped & Draco looked around for an exit, he was completely surrounded. He knew he was got, he floated in front of Spike obviously feeling guilty.
"No desserts after dinner for a month after our vacation ends, you can have some coral as a snack after nap times but that's it." Spike said wagging a clawed finger at his son. The Pie triplets gasped & hid behind their mother, as they feared their own rations of sweets would be in jeopardy next. The crowd was laughing a bit, not doing much good for Draco's deteriorating mood. The party was ending about an hour later, the castle staff members stayed to clean while everyone else went home. Spike made sure to give them a little extra pay for the unscheduled clean up. The party had lasted all day & the hour grew late, the Pies said goodnight & returned home with a large basket of the impossible fruit that grew on the trees of the Chimera Kingdom. Pinkie was ecstatic as she had been wanting to try baking with them but they were still expensive in Equestria. Draco was put to bed despite his numerous claims of not being tired & fell asleep quickly. Discord unlinked the barn & the bedroom before he & Spike went to bed. Only three days into their week long vacation & they had already had so much fun. Tomorrow was another day, one with high expectations.
Author's Note
I had the staring contest idea before I had thought of anything else for the story. LOL
Next Chapter: Heads In The Clouds
Discord's Family Vacation
After a quick breakfast Discord, Draco, & Spike walked/floated to the throne room to teleport them to their next destination. Discord was fully capable of teleporting them from any given location, but since becoming a father he took extra precautions. There was enough wide open space in the throne room to assure no one ended up fused to an object too close to the magic. With a flash of light they were gone. They reappeared several miles above the ground amongst a sea of clouds. The floating city of Cloudsdale was visible in the distance. The trio took flight to their next stop.
Cloudsdale was a beautiful place, fluffy white clouds shaped into buildings & columns, & fountains of liquid rainbows. In other words, Discord found the place far too dull for his taste but had promised Spike to behave. When they landed in front of a particularly large cloud mansion, Draco's excitement had already neared critical mass as he had never been to a cloud city before.
"Everything is so fluffy! Look I made a cloud pony!" Draco said as he smooshed various puffs of cloud matter together. In truth it really did look a bit like a pony, until Draco did a speeding barrel roll through it scattering vapors all about. His parents shared a laugh at his antics for a moment before reeling him in so they could get on with their visit. They walked up the long field of clouds that served as a yard for the home of the fastest pony in recorded history. To Draco's surprise the door & windows of the manor were regular materials instead of cloud.
"I thought stuff that wasn't magic fell through clouds?" Draco asked as he turned to his fathers.
"Your grandma explained it to me once, something about finishing materials with magic varnish or something. You should ask her about it sometime." Spike said as they reached the porch of the impressive abode. Discord knocked on the door with his lion's paw, after a moment they heard something moving inside. A weary looking rainbow dash answered the door after several more moments.
"Oh, hey guys. I wasn't quite awake yet, me & the bolts were running drills till three this morning." She said as she shielded her eyes from the light of Celestia's sun. She opened the door wider revealing the interior of her home. It looked much like any other home with real walls & everything. The thing that set it apart was the abundant clutter, empty energy drink cans & sports magazines littered the floor. On the coffee table was bottles of vitamins, protein powder, & a half-empty glass of some health food swill that reeked like rotten vegetables. Draped across the sofa was a blanket & Rainbow's own Wonderbolt uniform, she had apparently shed the outfit & crashed on the couch mere hours ago.
"Sorry about the mess, the cleaning lady doesn't come by till Saturday." Rainbow Dash said before swallowing a number of supplements with the remainder of the sickening health drink. Rainbow was thirty eight but was showing no signs of slowing down yet, Spike supposed her vigorous training & recently adopted dietary shift had really paid off. He couldn't help but feel guilty that he would remain as he was for eternity unless the powerful spell upon him was somehow broken, but even then his lifespan was nearly infinite unless he became victim of foul play or disease. He could understand how immortals seemed to lose their heads on occasion, the guilt alone was nearly thick enough to cut with his claws. He was broken from his moment of melancholy by Draco who was hovering in circles around Rainbow Dash.
"Look Rainbow, I can fly without using my wings!" Draco shouted as he orbited her. Rainbow Dash hated it when her friends children referred to her with any additional title as it made her feel old. He stopped when she looked at him in surprise before replacing her expression with one of both happiness & smugness.
"That's great shrimp, but we need to get your wings caught up! It's time for you to sweat! Get flapping!" Rainbow said in mock drill instructor tone. She was used to being rough with her cadets but knew Draco was still young. Despite her playful instruction, Draco saluted & floated to the floor & began flapping his tiny feathery wings. Twilight had examined all three of them after Draco was born, Spike had the usual wild plentiful magic of a dragon. Discord seemed to have a completely unique magic comprised of all known forms of magic & a few still unidentifiable, pony included. Draco's magic was singular but completely unique to any other but her analysis showed his wings were nearly identical to that of a pegasus. Draco was able to move a few inches off of the floor before falling back to the plush carpeting of Rainbow's home with a defeated look on his face. Rainbow made her way over to him & lifted his chin with her hoof.
"Hey, that was great for a first try, not everypony gets it right away. You're still little, before you know it you'll be soaring through the air & belching fire like your dad." She said sincerely to the little draconian. He brightened a bit after thinking about it for a moment.
"If I drink that nasty stuff like you do you think I could grow faster?" He asked completely innocently. Though he was a very smart child, biology was still a ways ahead in his lessons. The adults shared a laugh at his question much to his confusion. After Rainbow Dash grabbed a quick shower the four departed for their tour of Cloudsdale.
Despite being one to avoid slow paced tasks, Rainbow proved to be a good tour guide of the city she had been raised in. The group got a few looks from the citizenry of Cloudsdale due to their appearances, but a quick glare from the most famous pegasus in the country garnered their silence. The tour ended with the largest building in the city, The Cloudsdale Weather Factory.
There were pegasus guards positioned at the entrance & at strategic points around the facility. Security had been heightened years earlier after someone had somehow altered all the machines into producing chocolate clouds that rained diet cola continually. The guards at the front entrance were on full alert as soon as the group came into view, despite the presence of the Wonderbolts captain.
"Ma'am please step aside, these creatures are a potential threat to the security of the factory." The guard commander said with a spear raised at Draco, as the other guard had one raised at Discord. Draco took cover behind Spike, who was immediately enraged at the display of aggression. He took the spear from the guard & snapped it in his hands several times before chewing & swallowing the remains. Discord merely grinned evilly before touching the tip with a talon, the spear became a vine that rooted itself to the clouds before binding the other guard several feet off the ground.
"Would you like to see what happens to someone we think is a genuine threat to our family?" Spike said smoke fuming from his nostrils. Draco peaked over Discord's shoulder sticking his tongue out at the now cowering guards. Rainbow chose now to intervene & flew between the guard & the three.
"Whoa whoa whoa, these three are my friends, the royal family of the Chimera Kingdom & close relatives of our princess Twilight Sparkle. If you threaten them you're gonna have a god, all the alicorns, a dragon, my Wonderbolts, & an entire country after your flanks." She said meeting the eyes of the commander who was as of now rethinking his line of work. He righted himself as best as he could.
"Ah, my deepest apologies your majesties. We weren't expecting you, please forgive our assumptions of you we aren't familiar with the identities of friendly nations leaders. I will be sure to rectify that at the earliest opportunity." The guard said trying his best to keep calm. He was doing admittedly well with his voice, but his legs were wobbling & he was sweating profusely. Rainbow, Spike & Discord were obviously still a bit tense but let it go.
"Fine, you do that. & maybe be a little less discriminatory from now on. I know for a fact that tours are open to the public, if Luna or Celestia found out you pointed anything sharper than an egg at our son they'd have you gelded & force feed it to you afterwards." Spike said looking the guard directly in the eyes before snorting a puff of black smoke into his face. The guard promptly fainted, the group continued into the building with guards nervously saluting them.
Once they arrived inside a nervous mare trotted out from behind the front desk, a video monitor of the outside could be seen in back explaining her demeanor. She quickly bowed to the group before passing them pamphlets about the facility. Draco snatched one up & began floating upside down whilst reading it, eager to absorb the new information. Spike felt bad about letting his instincts take over moments ago when he saw the mare flinch away from Draco.
"You can get up, we don't even make our subjects bow. They usually just wave. We have nothing but love for Equestria, I was born here. We just got a little carried away when they threatened our son." Spike said motioning to Draco.
"Although I'll admit that I wasn't expecting to have a reasonable excuse to cut loose some chaos magic on an unsuspecting guard." Discord said with a chuckle. Spike smacked him on the back of the head lightly causing the draconequus to grumble a bit. The mare relaxed a bit & raised her head again, she righted herself before her introduction.
"Ah yes, sorry about that Steely Gaze is a bit paranoid at times. Welcome to the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, I'm Breezy Nimbus & I'll be your guide today. Please be mindful of the various machines & vats in the facility. If you have any questions please be sure to ask, & I will answer them to the best of my ability." She said as she recited her rehearsed lines without faltering. Not a second passed before Draco's stubby arm shot into the air as he turned upright again.
"Um, yes?" Breezy stated unsure of what Draco could be asking about this early on.
"I finished the pamphlet, it says that it takes hundreds of ponies to make weather & lots more around Equestria to control it." Draco said as if it didn't make any sense to him. Breezy Nimbus was surprised that such a small boy had read the pamphlet in the time it took her to introduce herself, but was also surprised that the knowledge bothered the child.
"Well yes, it's a big job. It takes a lot of ponies to keep everything running smoothly." She said unsure of his question.
"Can't the princesses do it for them they're powerful & there are three of them in Equestria." Draco said as if it were obvious.
"Well there isn't anypony powerful enough to control individual weather patterns over an area that large." She answered in the same tone.
"But Papa does that back home by himself everyday while taking a nap on the sofa. He even makes it snow ice cream on my birthday." Draco said looking back at Discord who was basking in the praise his son was giving him.
3 MINUTES LATER
"How was I supposed to know that they were still mad about the cola storm? That was years ago!" Discord said with crossed arms as they stood outside the factory grounds. Spike didn't really care that he & Discord were banned from the facility but Draco was still young so they showed him leniency. Rainbow Dash was currently chaperoning Draco on the tour. They would meet them back at Rainbow's house later Rainbow had given Spike the keys. After they arrived Spike began making dinner for everyone as thanks to Rainbow, Discord lazed about on the sofa before Spike interrupted his leisure time.
"If you wanna be off the hook for getting us kicked out of another public place you had better get cleaning in there." At this Discord merely rolled his eyes & raised his eagle talon, but before he could do so Spike could be heard again.
"Don't even think about it, honey. Do it the right way, you're being punished." Discord's mood dropped several notches at this. He magicked his maids outfit onto himself for the first time in ages & got to work. He wasn't the best at manual labor, so the cleaning job wasn't at professional standards but was a noticeable improvement. The cans had been put into the recyclables & the magazines placed on the coffee table. Discord gathered up the supplements & protein powder & carried it all off to the kitchen. He saw Spike making spaghetti with homemade sauce, garlic bread & side salads. Discord placed the items on the counter & walked silently up to his unsuspecting husband.
"Don't even think about it." Spike said as he turned around. Both of them looked the other over silently. Discord had forgotten to remove the maids outfit from himself & Spike was in an apron he had found hanging on a hook on the wall in the kitchen. It read "Kiss The Cook" in bright red letters with phony lipstick stains in a few places. Without needing to say anything the two held each other & entered a deep kiss that felt like it lasted forever. Unbeknownst to them Rainbow & Draco had just returned home with Draco wearing a t-shirt with Cloudsdale's silhouette on it & a sealed bottle of liquid rainbow in his nubby digits, souvenirs of his day out with his aunt.
"Hey, something smells good. Your dads must have started dinner for us." Rainbow said happily. They both headed into the kitchen to see the two distracted with one another, in their respective costumes. Spike half-opened his eyes to see his close friend & son standing there entirely speechless. Spike's eyes snapped completely open & he pushed himself off his confused lover. Discord stared at him in confusion before he turned to see what had Spike up in arms. He immediately dove under the kitchen table to shield himself from their eyes. Spike undid the apron as quickly as he could & threw it under the table with Discord.
No one said anything for a minute before a *snap* was heard & Discord removed himself from underneath his obvious hiding spot once again nude. Before anyone could react he was in front of Rainbow Dash & placed a paw finger on her forehead making her sleep.
"Okay so, we're going to pretend this didn't just happen. Draco if you promise to never tell anyone about this, especially Grandma you can have dessert back. Any objections?" Discord said looking at his family with a serious expression.
"No, I'm good. Draco?" Spike said turning to his son.
"I dunno what's going on or why Papa was dressed like the lady that cleans my room, but I want milkshakes tonight!" Draco said doing a flip in excitement at the return of his dessert privileges.
They set the table like normal with an unconscious Rainbow Dash setting in a chair still temporarily catatonic. Once everything was in place Discord tapped her on the head again waking her up.
"Bwuh? What just happened? Was I asleep? I could have sworn..." She said looking at her surroundings.
"We were just sitting down to this lovely dinner Spike prepared as a thank you & Draco was telling us about the factory. You nodded off, you really should get to sleep at a more reasonable hour my dear." Discord said wiping a bit of drool from her mouth with a napkin.
"Uh, sure. You might be right about that. Rest is important if I'm gonna keep up with the rising stars on the team." Rainbow said as she tried to get a swirl going to get enough spaghetti for a bite. She eventually relented & dug in the old fashioned way. Spike & Discord shared a mental sigh of relief. The night went on without any other hitches & everyone had a good time, & of course Milkshakes were had by all.
Author's Note
Moral of the story, Bribery & Milkshakes make everything better.
Discord's Family Vacation
After finding out that Rainbow had no guestroom to speak of (nearly every room in her home was full of exercise equipment & the top floors were all joined into an indoor flight racetrack) Discord linked a closet with their home once again. The night was uneventful, Rainbow had already left for training by the time the rest of them woke up, None of them were surprised but Draco was a little disappointed. Discord decided to transport them directly to their next destination, before Spike could object they reappeared in a quaint & cozy cafe already seated.
"Discord, were are we?" Spike asked picking up the restaurant's menu.
"We're in Manehattan of course, this is where our fashionista friend lives isn't it?" He said looking over his own menu. Draco, having grown up around Discord's shenanigans had already began browsing & had already made his decision.
"Well yes, but I assumed you were going to take us to her instead of a cafe with an admittedly pleasant atmosphere." Spike replied.
"Well excuse me for being hungry, It gets dull making your own food with magic sometimes you know. That, & our dear element of generosity would insist on making something for us herself. The last time I sampled her cooking two of my stomachs wouldn't speak to me for weeks." Discord said shuddering at the memory. Spike opened his mouth to defend Rarity's cooking & question Discord's other comment, but thought better of it. Even the near invincible stomach of a dragon wasn't immune to her terrifying cuisine.
After a moment the waiter who had been watching the door took notice of them & trotted over.
"Terribly sorry gentlemen, I must not of seen you come in. What would you like this fine morning?" He said slightly confused as to how he had missed the group of unusual & tall creatures.
"I'll have the jumbo cheese omelet challenge & four sides of biscuits & gravy. I'd also like some coffee please." Spike said casually. The waiter was a bit concerned at this but after looking over the group he dismissed it. He turned to Discord next.
"Yes, id like six stacks of pancakes & as many orders of extra hay bacon. Do you have chocolate milk?" Discord said as if his order were nothing.
"Um... yes sir we certainly do. We might need a bit to make such an order but we will certainly do our best to get it out to you as soon as possible. & what about you little guy?" He said turning to Draco. Draco rolled his eyes at being called little but didn't say anything about it.
"Id like the grilled cheese foal's meal with extra hay fries, & I'd like orange juice please." Draco said as he handed the menu to the stallion. The stallion silently thanked Celestia that at least that order was reasonable.
"Alright then, I'll be back with your drinks momentarily." With that, the nervous stallion trotted off to give the large order to the chef.
Draco's meal came first, not long after the drinks. After about an hour Discord's colossal amount of flapjacks arrived. Another half hour later they wheeled out Spike's monstrous omelet, to a pony it certainly would be a challenge. Draco was dwarfed by the thing.
"The rules state that if you can finish the omelet within an hour your table eats for free. Only two ponies have ever completed the challenge however." The waiter said pointing to the cork board behind the register. There was a picture of a morbidly obese stallion in one photo, in the other unsurprisingly was Pinkie Pie wearing an "I love Manehattan" t-shirt with a heart replacing the word love. Draco giggled at this, much to the stallion's confusion.
"Really? Well then, I suppose I accept then." Spike said while failing to contain an evil smirk. Regardless the waiter pressed the button on a timer & shouted "Begin!"
15 minutes later
Spike, Discord, & Draco had finished eating, much to the astonishment of the entire restaurant. The manager nearly cried when he saw that he would receive no payment from such a large bill. Spike had his photo taken & placed directly next to Pinkie's. Upon exiting the cafe Spike slipped the manager a hefty diamond & whispered: Sorry for the trouble, the omelet really was spectacular. I just have trouble resisting a challenge sometimes, dragon thing I guess.
The manager was at a loss for words but smiled brightly at the dragon nonetheless. Spike walked out to see Discord trying to hail a cab with Draco perched in between his horns. Spike rolled his eyes at his husband's antics, but walked over anyway. After a few minutes he had had enough however.
"Discord, you know that none of them could carry the three of us anywhere, right?" Spike asked with a less than enthused tone.
"The thought may not of occurred to me until just now, no." Discord said sheepishly.
"Just teleport us to Rarity's, she's going to begin to wonder where we are." Spike said resisting the urge to facepalm himself. Discord said nothing but began looking around nervously. Spike knew what that meant & succumbed to his urges & facepalmed with a groan.
"You forgot where she lives, didn't you?" He said removing his clawed hand from his face.
"Auntie Rarity lives on the 14th floor of the Glamwood hotel, in the luxury suite." Draco said looking down into the eyes of his father from atop his head. Both of his parents looked genuinely impressed at their son's formidable memory. Discord snapped his fingers & they appeared in front of the aforementioned hotel. They walked into the lobby much to the surprise of all the posh ponies inside. Several did their best to make it to the exit without being seen. Draco waved at them causing them to flee faster, much to his confusion. Spike walked to the front desk to find a cowering mare hiding behind it.
"Ahem, we are the royal family of the Chimera Kingdom. I'm Spike, I sent a letter last week saying we would be here to see Rarity. We were promised the suite opposite hers for the night." He said handing her his obsidian credit card. Obsidian was the highest level of credit card accepted anywhere. Only royalty was allowed to possess one. It had no spending limit, international compatibility, & an absurd amount of rewards points per purchase. The mare reluctantly accepted it & ran it through the system, sure enough Spike's information & photograph came up on her screen. She looked even more nervous now, as she hoofed over a room key & three VIP passes for the hotel restaurant.
"We're extremely sorry for your less than warm reception your majesty. We just aren't particularly used to... foreign dignitaries. We're honored that you choose to stay in our humble hotel." She said obviously nervous about having potentially insulted foreign meat eating rulers several times her size. Much to her surprise she was met with a smile.
"Eh, you get used to it. Being raised by ponies, I got a lot of weird looks growing up." Spike said taking his card, the passes, & the key before returning to his family. He handed each of them a pass & they headed to the elevator. Spike & Discord had to duck a bit but managed. After arriving they trotted right over to the luxury suite as they had no bags to speak of. Spike knocked on the door which was opened a moment later by a cream colored mare with a light blue mane. She looked at them for a moment before running back into the suite screaming.
"Well, I think we may have gotten the wrong room." Discord said poking his head through the still open door. After a moment Rarity trotted into the room with the scared mare doing her best not to be seen following her.
"Discord, did you do something to frighten Coco?" She asked in a clearly unamused tone.
"Actually, we didn't do anything. She just kinda ran off screaming when she saw us." Spike interjected. Rarity's expression softened when she saw her old friend. Though they had been together for years now, Rarity was still less than fond of Discord's sense of humor. Draco floated over to her & gave her a hug.
"My my, it seems someone has been growing since last I saw them." She said to Draco with a warm smile. Coco was still unsure of the group but stepped forward warily.
"I-I'm Coco, Mrs.Rarity's assistant. It's a pleasure to meet you all." She managed to say. Rarity rolled her eyes before trotting over to the nervous earth pony.
"Coco, there's no need to be so worried. I've known these three for years. You've actually met Spike before, way back when we first met now that I think about it." She said pointing to the purple dragon in question. Coco thought for a moment before it hit her.
"Oh my, you were the little fellow with Rarity & her friends? But you're so tall now!" Coco said in disbelief. Spike & Discord chuckled a bit at that.
"Yes, I've grown quite a bit since then. A pleasure to see you again Coco." He said offering her his claw. Coco was a little worried that the claw was larger than her head but shook regardless. To her surprise Spike was remarkably gentle for his size.
"Pleasure to meet you miss Coco, I'm Discord. Spike's husband, Draco's other father, & the god of chaos." Discord said bending to meet her face to face. Coco was immediately unsure of the mismatched creature. Draco however floated over to meet her. In her opinion Draco was adorable despite his strange father.
"Oh, hello there what's your name." She said brightening at the little draconian's appearance.
"I'm Draco, Papa just said that." He said oblivious to how nervous his father made her. "Are you auntie Rarity's marefriend? You smell like each other."
Coco & Rarity's faces both went red at the question. Spike facepalmed once again while Discord laughed himself silly. After Discord had calmed down & the mares composed themselves Rarity responded.
"Well, yes Draco. Coco & I are together. We met each other again after so many years a few months ago, & our relationship grew as time went on. We're trying to keep it need to know for the moment however." she said still blushing a bit.
"Okay, so... why don't I go make us some tea?" Coco asked nervously. Without waiting for a response she trotted to the suite's kitchen.
"You'll have to forgive Coco, she is nearly as bad as Fluttershy used to be. She really does love foals though." Rarity said looking at them & then to Draco. She showed them to the living room. Draco resumed his perch atop Discord's head while Spike & Discord took a seat on the couch. Rarity took her place on a plush loveseat adjacent to the couch.
"So, did you get to sample any of Manehattan's many attractions before you arrived?" Rarity asked the trio.
"Daddy, ate a really big omelet reaaally fast & got his picture put on a wall with the other winners!" Draco said excitedly. Rarity frowned a bit before turning to Spike who was dreading her response.
"Spike! A king must be dignified & composed at all times! You should not be participating in extreme food challenges!" She said genuinely distraught.
"Rarity, our kingdom isn't as prim & proper as Equestria, we don't hold ourselves to any higher standard then the citizenry." Spike said rolling his eyes at her. Rarity was genuinely annoyed, but still relented as she supposed that treating yourself like the common folk was admirable.
"Oh my, I wasn't aware that you were royalty, Rarity just told me you were old friends of hers." Coco said as she set a tray with tea on the table.
"We don't advertise the whole royalty thing unless necessary, especially with friends & family. Besides, we're on vacation visiting each of the elements & their families this week." Discord said handing Draco a teacup. Draco tried taking a sip but scorched his tongue.
"Oh, it's very hot just yet. You need to blow on it first." Coco said apologetically. Draco took her advice & inhaled a bit before blowing on it. To his surprise the tea froze, he turned the cup upside down to be sure. It slowly slipped out of the cup & fell onto Discord's face.
"Ow! Draco! What are you doing up there?" Discord said before picking up the offending object. His expression quickly turned from annoyance to confusion. "Draco? Did you use magic on your tea?"
All eyes in the room were on him now making him slightly nervous.
"No, it was too hot. So I blew on it to make it colder." He said holding up the cup. Spike refilled the cup.
"Do it again, but genuinely try to freeze it." Spike said to his son. Draco looked around but shrugged. He took a deeper breath this time & thought cold before breathing out. A stream of frost shot & froze the cup & it's contents solid after only a few seconds. His hand was seemingly immune to the chill as the frost slid off him like rain. Spike had been pretty worried about his son's abilities but right now he could feel nothing but happiness at the somewhat relateable ability.
"Ah my little boy has ice breath!" Spike said excitedly grabbing his son off of his husband's head, pulling him into a hug. As soon as he let him go Draco floated around happily.
"Certainly has been an interesting few days for you huh Dracums?" Discord said to his obliviously happy offspring.
"What do you mean, exciting few days?" Rarity asked slightly concerned.
"Draco seems to be coming into his abilities, in the last few days he's learned to levitate, breathe underwater, camouflage himself, & now breathe ice." Spike said counting off Draco's abilities on his claws. Rarity raised her brow at this.
"Camouflage himself? What do you mean? Like a changeling?" She asked slightly unnerved by the idea. Draco had heard her so he floated in front of her & changed himself to a bright electric blue color.
"Ta dah!" He shouted before jumping to the coffee table & impersonating the wood. Rarity was genuinely giddy at this, her mind was overflowing with fashion ideas for the youngster, he could literally wear anything he wanted & make himself match. Rarity would give almost anything for an ability like that. She was eventually brought out of her fashion stupor by Coco.
"Sweetie? you're drooling." Coco said wiping the aforementioned spittle away with a hanky.
"Oh yes, sorry. My mind got away from me for a moment. Now then since we're all here, I took the liberty of purchasing tickets for the latest show on Bridleway for the five of us. The show is tonight at 8 so we'll need to have dinner early to get there at a reasonable time." Rarity said happily. Discord groaned a bit but was silenced by Spike's glare.
"Is it at least a musical?" Discord asked begrudgingly.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. It's based around the story of Hearts & Hooves day. It's called Love & Loss." Rarity said slightly annoyed by Discord's reluctance. To her surprise Discord brightened considerably at this.
"Oh this will be wonderful! I can watch & tell them how wrong they've gotten everything! I was there!" Discord said laughing hysterically. Everyone looked at him in surprise, but decided it was best not to question it. They knew Discord was remarkably old so it wasn't very far fetched.
For the next few hours the group played various board games, the most interesting was Pictionary which Draco found unfair as everyone could easily tell what he was drawing because of his skill. Rarity agreed. Drawing out all her designs had made her a fairly competent artist as well. Soon however the hour grew to late afternoon so the group adjourned to the swank hotel's restaurant. Their VIP passes garnered them the nicest table.
After they ate they headed to the theater. It was admittedly even grander than the last time Spike had seen it. They had most definitely renovated. After Rarity hoofed the tickets to the usher they walked into the theater itself where what seemed like thousands of seats were everywhere. Luckily Rarity had gotten them balcony seats away from the multitude of ponies that were filing in looking for a good seat. After they walked up the stairs to the balcony they each settled into their respective seats.
By the time the show had begun nearly every seat in the house had been occupied. To Spike's surprise, both Discord & Draco were watching very intently. Discord seemed to be paying attention for a different reason for excitement, he seemed almost sad while he looked at it. Draco was enjoying the play immensely, he loved the musical numbers & the skillful way the ponies danced. He'd need to remember to ask his fathers to take him to shows more often.
As the play ended & the curtain closed, the group made their way back to the lobby. Discord however seemed to be still rather upset.
"Hun, something the matter? Was the play that inaccurate?" Spike asked. Discord merely sighed.
"It was pretty close to the actual event honestly. But it upset me that I wasn't even mentioned. After all, I'm the one that gave the prince the love poison formula." Discord said sadly. Everyone looked at him with mixed expression on their faces.
"You're the reason for Hearts & Hooves day?" Rarity asked in disbelief.
"Of course, nothing causes chaos like love." Discord said as if it was obvious. The group thought on that for a minute, no one could really deny it even if they wanted to. After thanking Rarity for the evening they adjourned their own suite to spend the night in. Draco slept in the bed with them as the suite only had one. The group settled in, tomorrow was going to be interesting.
Author's Note
Sorry I phoned this chapter in, I don't like Rarity so it was kinda difficult.
Next Chapter: Canterlot!
Discord's Family Vacation
Spike was the first of the trio to awaken, but saw Draco sleeping across his belly enjoying the warmth produced by his father. Spike looked over to see Discord snoozing comfortably, only Spike & Draco knew that Discord's magic could sometimes break free from the draconequus while he slept. Spike chuckled silently to himself as a string of Z's floated up from his husband & disappeared after a few feet. Discord's magical snoring was pretty adorable in Spike's opinion, but it seemed his chuckle had moved his stomach enough to disturb Draco. The groggy little dragon-like toddler floated up slowly wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"Morning daddy" Draco said before yawning.
Spike sat up in bed & nudged Discord in an attempt to wake him. All this accomplished was causing the draconequus to grumble for a moment & his Z's to momentarily become Q's. Spike sighed in annoyance & moved to nudge him harder before Draco stopped him.
"I wanna try something. Please?" Draco said giving his father big adorable eyes. Spike shrugged in consent. Draco adopted an adorable yet evil grin before floating directly above Discord. He inhaled a large breath & before Spike could stop him he blasted his other father with his mightiest wintery breath yet. Discord shot up instantly his face literally frozen in a state of shock. He moved his mismatched hands across his frozen face frantically. Spike thought about scolding his son, but it wasn't often that Discord was caught so unaware. He couldn't help but bust out laughing. Discord crossed his arms & his tail moved out from under the blankets clutching a small mallet in it's grasp. He struck himself in the face with it freeing himself.
"What is it, pick on Discord day? I was sure my birthday wasn't until April first." Discord said in mock annoyance. But his serious face soon gave way & all three erupted into fits of giggles.
The trio took their respective turns in the bathroom before heading off for breakfast. Rarity & Coco were already at the hotel's restaurant when they arrived. The group dined together, & even timid Coco came out of her shell after a time. When the bill came however Spike insisted that they pay considering Rarity had payed for the previous night's dinner & show. The shopaholic mare nearly fainted when she saw the obsidian credit card.
"I thought those were only a myth! They told me that I could only go as high as diamond!" She said wide-eyed as she examined Spike's glittery black card. He smiled a bit at her reaction, he was surprised he had forgotten the mare's knowledge of the finer things in life.
"The obsidian card is reserved for royalty or high ranking politicians, even then they do a complete financial history check & you have to fill out a mountain of paperwork & keep a healthy credit score. I hear Blueblood threw quite a tantrum when his honorary title of prince wasn't enough to garner one." Spike said with a sly grin. Rarity's wonder turned to happiness at this news.
"Well, I'll be glad to remind of that the next time he gets high & mighty at a party." Rarity said as she moved her mane to hide the evil smirk she was wearing.
The trio said their goodbyes to Rarity & Coco & vanished in a flash of light from Discord's teleportation. The group reappeared in Canterlot Castle on the telepad Twilight had installed for easier travel for less magical beings. They were greeted by Twilight herself, Shining Armor, Cadence, & of course Celestia. The group greeted their visitors with warm smiles. Twilight managed to pull the much larger pair & Draco into a big hug.
"I'm so glad you three decided to end the week here! We managed to get everypony here at once!" She said motioning to the other royals as well as freeing the group from her embrace. Draco floated circles around the group, as seemed to be his new routine when meeting up with loved ones. He stopped after a moment with a saddened expression.
"Where's Auntie Luna?" He said with drooped ears.
"My sister will be joining us at sunset, we'll be trading places when we move our respective celestial bodies. I wish I could stay longer but our schedules still need one of us on the job at all times. She's taking over day court so I can spend time with you all, as I will do for her later." Celestia said in her smooth casual tone. Draco brightened a bit at this, but turned to Shining & Cadence with worry.
"Where's-" Draco was immediately cut off by a loud whiny filly's voice.
"Moooooom There's nothing to do here!" A pink alicorn filly with purple & yellow hair said as she trotted into the room wearing a annoyed scowl. This was Skyla, the nine year-old princess of the Crystal Empire & the bane of Draco's existence. Draco quickly dropped to the floor & disguised himself as the color of the marble. Shining & Cadence where too distracted with their daughter's whining to notice Draco's disappearing act. Draco silently crawled his way back behind his fathers & resumed his normal colors. Twilight however had noticed this & was staring in awe of her grandson's ability, as was Celestia.
"Draco! How'd you do that? Do you have any other new capabilities?" Twilight said already having summoned a notepad & quill which were furiously taking notes. Her inquisitive outburst had drawn attention back to Draco who was admitting defeat he floated up & changed himself a multitude of colors & blew his wintery breath into the air producing snow as the frozen breath fell back down the floor. Everypony in the room looked on in awe at the display except Skyla who no one noticed scowling. He's getting all the attention for some cold breath?! I'm freaking beautiful & perfect! He's some kind of lizard thing! She thought to herself. Discord however noticed her & looked at her with recognition, he knew that look. Draco had told him about being bullied by Skyla before but there was never any evidence to use against her. Discord grinned evilly while no one was looking & snapped his tails fur as he sometimes did when he wanted to be sneaky. Discord, being an expert at magic knew there was no such things as curses, but he had borrowed some of Twilight's books in the past years & came up with something just as good. He used his magic to create a large amount of negatively & positively charged quarks & other exotic invisible particles, & enchanted them with his own chaos magic. The positive ones now clung to Draco, the negative to Skyla. If she tried to do anything to Draco the probability altering properties of entropy would make whatever she did backfire. He could confidently enjoy himself without worrying about anything happening to Draco, a perfect situation in his head.
After Twilight's scientific curiosity had been momentarily sated, the adults left the children to play with one another. Draco kept up his best smile until they left, then he sunk back into his worried state. He turned to see Skyla scowling at him.
"Listen lizard boy, you need to stop stealing my spotlight. I'm a pretty pony princess, & I will be treated as such!" She said stamping her hoof to the floor emphasis. She had been born an alicorn, as such she grew into her power quickly. This included earth pony strength, as the cracks in the floor could attest to.
"I don't want all the attention, my powers just keep showing up one after the other. Plus I'm a prince, shouldn't we be equal?" Draco said taking a couple steps away from his cousin. Her scowl merely deepened at the mention of this, & she leaned in to glare at him intensely.
"I'm a pony, & you're the prince of the monsters! I only pretend to be nice to you because everypony thinks you're adorable for some reason." She said before backing off. "Now I'm going to stay on this side of the room, you stay over there." She said pointing to the far side of the room.
Fearing her wrath he floated over to the other side of the room & took refuge on top of the book case. She took a moment to stand there menacingly before summoning her bag. She took out a small box that looked to be a model & began working. Draco reached down grabbed a book at random. It turned out to be a book about his father's less than nice past. He had already read all about it & accepted it as truth after actually asking his father about it. He replaced the book & pulled another from the shelf, also to less than satisfactory result. It was about Nightmare Moon's rebellion. After a third attempt he got a satisfying book about the Elements of Harmony & the Tree. He happily soared through the knowledge, while unbeknownst to him Skyla was plotting.
Skyla was constructing a model catapult she intended to catch Draco unaware with. She retrieved a bag of small jawbreaker candies from her bag & loaded the miniature siege engine. the last piece was the rubber band which she needed to affix over a couple of the moving parts to get it to work properly. She used her magic to levitate it & stretch it appropriately. Neither of them noticed the faint sparkle over themselves as the "Curse" did it's work. The rubber band snapped & hit Skyla in the eye causing her to put a hoof over her eye & cry out in pain, garnering Draco's attention. He was wary of going over to her but was still concerned. He used his immunity to his own breath to shape his cold appropriately. He floated to the floor & slid the almost spherical chunk of ice over to him. She looked at it & then to her enemy.
"What's this for?" She said still holding her eye.
"You hurt your eye, so I thought you could use some ice." Draco said not making eye contact with Skyla.
"You wanna help me? Even though I go out of my way to be mean to you?" She said looking at him with her good eye.
"Daddy & papa told me that kindness is important, & that everyone deserves it. Papa & Auntie Luna used to be bad guys, but kindness changed them." Draco said holding up the book he had been reading & pointed to a picture of Fluttershy on one page. The opposite page showed a pink crystal & it's later form of a crystal butterfly.
"Kindness is my favorite element, without it papa would still be a statue in the garden here & Daddy would have left everyone behind & I wouldn't be here." Draco said looking at Skyla. His incredible IQ combined with the honesty & innocence of a child was a potent mix. Skyla felt as if she had been struck with an arrow of guilt. Right in the feel bads. Skyla thought to herself as she looked at her little cousin.
"I'm sorry." Skyla muttered without making eye contact. Draco could barely make out her apology but figured he shouldn't push his luck with her. A few seconds after her apology left her mouth the both of them began glowing slightly before it flickered & eventually dissipated entirely. Discord's enchanted particles dispersed themselves when the two began getting along, as he had planned unbeknownst to the pair.
"Did you do that?" Draco said looking to the alicorn filly. She merely shook her head negative, she had been about to ask the same thing of him. They looked around for the source of the glow but gave up after nothing could be found.
"So... what do you do for fun anyway? I've never really taken the time to learn anything about you twerp. Everypony is always going on about how smart you are, but I usually tune them out after they get that far." She said rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.
Draco ignored being called a twerp, because they were at least making progress.
"I like art, reading, & stuff like that. I learned how to swim the other day, & we went & saw a play with auntie Rarity last night. I really liked that." Draco said listing off what came to mind. Skyla was very uninterested in almost all of those things, but said nothing about it. She hadn't learned to swim either, as it was too cold to swim in the empire.
"So you're like five right? What do mean by art? Do you hoof-paint or something?" Skyla asked expecting his interests to be foalish.
"I finger paint." He said holding up his stubby digits. "I made that painting over there." He said pointing to the far wall of the room. Skyla looked at the painting, it was an amazingly huge detailed depiction of a castle . She looked from painting to Draco & back several times.
"Okay, there is no way you painted that with those stubby things on your arms." Skyla said pointing to the magnificent work of art.
Draco rolled his eyes & floated over to it, motioning for her to follow.
"You have lots of magic right? Take it off the wall, Daddy had me sign the back before I gave it auntie Celestia & auntie Luna for Hearth's warming." He said pointing to his masterpiece. Skyla was not one to admit her faults, she had excelled in flying & had plenty of earth pony strength. However, her magic tended to give out at inopportune times. She gulped nervously but wouldn't back down from a challenge. Her bright yellow aura surrounded the painting lifting it off the wall enough her to see the writing on the back. It read "Draco age 4 1/2" centered around a little hand print, such a small print had undoubtedly come from Draco. In her surprise her magic faltered sending the painting downward onto a surprised Draco. The young Draco was too shocked to move & Skyla wasn't able to summon up her magic quick enough. The painting clattered to the floor.
Skyla couldn't open her eyes, she had just accidentally squished her innocent younger fragile cousin. Mom & dad are going to banish me! Then Aunt Twilight will sink the place I was banished to into the ocean with super magic! Then my uncles will save me from drowning, only to turn me to stone, crush me with a hammer & throw the pieces into the sun! Skyla thought to herself as tears streamed from her eyes. The Sparkle family overreacting tradition was still going strong, given the situation the intensity of the panic was understandable. Or it would be if Draco hadn't spoken up.
"Skyla? I'm okay, but I don't know what's happening!" Draco said in a panicked tone. Skyla opened her eyes to see Draco... Who was see through? Draco's upper half was above the painting but was... missing, all but a faint semblance of himself was missing. He was experimentally passing his hands through the painting in front of him, his expression seemed to be a mixture of fascination, terror, & confusion. Skyla seemed to be adopting the patented eye twitch of her aunt Twilight as she struggled to process the scene.
"A-am I dead? Am I a ghost?" He said passing a hand through himself. This seemed to stop Skyla's ongoing panic for a moment.
"N-no way, aunt Twilight says there's no such thing! & she's smarter than anypony." Skyla said reassuring herself more than Draco. Though Draco liked the idea she had given him.
"That's it! We'll go see Papa & Grandma! Grandma's smart & Papa's so old he's seen everything!" Draco said floating up out of the painting, still mostly transparent. He floated to the door & tried to grab the knob but passed through it. He deflated a bit but floated through the door regardless. Skyla tried to keep up, but Draco could float without his wings. There wasn't a lot of room to maneuver in the hall, so she had to run. As a princess she had little need to do so, & was practically tripping over herself.
Draco floated around as fast as he could sticking his head through each of the doors to the many rooms in the castle. The adults were discussing what had happened on Discord & Spike's vacation, as well as the events of their various kingdoms & lands. Celestia was in mid-sip of her tea when Draco flew through the wall into the middle of the circle of seated rulers. Unfortunately for her his path went through her. She spat her tea into the face of Discord who was opposite her as the indescribable sensation shot through her body. She was nearly two thousand years old, but that was the most disturbing thing to ever happen to her. Being cocooned in changeling slime was a close second.
"Papa! Please tell me I'm not a ghost! I tried shutting it off just like with the colors but I can't!" He said looking at his wet & confused father. Spike jumped from his seat sending the chair falling to the floor. He rushed to his son trying to take hold of him, but passed through & was left feeling just like Celestia. Discord stood up, as did Twilight. Discord seemed less concerned than Spike, He snapped his fingers & faded out into the same semi-transparent state as Draco. He tried touching Draco, much to everyone's relief he succeeded in holding his son close to him. Discord snapped his tail tuft hand making them both solid again. Draco freed himself from his father's grasp & touched down onto the floor, seeing he didn't pass through it he smiled.
"What just happened?" Twilight asked Discord who seemed to be the only one with the answer.
"That was an advanced ability that allows extremely powerful magical creatures to become immaterial, essentially becoming a spirit for a short time. Draco doesn't have a good grasp on his abilities yet & doesn't seem to be able to channel energy like me, or an alicorn. More like some dragons or an earth pony, his powers are semi-passive only effecting himself. I'm just rather confused as to how he managed to do it." Discord answered before turning back to his son. "Just what were you doing when this happened Draco?"
"Skyla dropped my castle painting on me." Draco said without thinking about it. All the adults turned to see the door open, the aforementioned alicorn filly stood in the doorway panting. She received several mixed expressions upon entering.
"It was an accident, I was trying to prove I made the painting." Draco said floating in front of his cousin, coming to her defense. Discord lowered his hand & Spike unclenched his fist while Shining & Cadence looked relieved that their daughter hadn't tried to murder her baby cousin, possibly starting an international incident or even a war.
"Skyla, you know you aren't as adept at magic as you think you should be. You didn't bother to tell Draco that, did you?" Cadence said giving a motherly glare at her daughter.
"No... But I hate looking weak in front of others." Skyla said looking at the floor. Cadence merely sighed before trotting over to her daughter.
"I know that, but you could have crushed your cousin. I'm going to let your uncles decide a fitting punishment for you, understood?" Cadence said to her daughter with a loving but firm tone. Skyla nodded & trotted before her uncles with her head held low. Discord & Spike looked at each other before entering a huddle. After about three minutes of whispers they turned back to her.
"You're off the hook." Discord said pulling a fishing hook out from behind her ear & tossing it into a nearby wastebasket that erupted with bubbles afterwards. Skyla completely ignored the strange occurrence & stared at them in confusion.
"Discord used magic on you & Draco, apparently anything you tried to do to him would backfire on you. Draco's complained to us about you being a bully before so he did it as a precaution. I knew he had done something, but didn't speak up when nothing bad happened. Consider us even, Discord won't use magic on anybody without permission & you make sure Draco stays safe next time okay?" Spike said to his niece. Shining Armor was about to speak up but Cadence stopped him.
"Did the spell activate?" Cadence said to Discord who was looking a little guilty, though he picked up on it. He looked Draco & Skyla over with a pair of 3-D glasses.
"There isn't any trace of it on either of them. It was designed to dissipate if they got along alright." Discord said before eating his glasses. Skyla would normally leave it at that but, she decided it would be better if she came clean in the long run.
"Actually... before that glow happened, I was sorta trying to hit Draco with a jawbreaker with a tiny catapult. But the rubber band broke & snapped me in the eye. He gave me some ice for my eye & made a really deep speech. It had pictures & stuff too, it made me feel really bad & we started getting along after that." Skyla said guiltily. Cadence looked at her with a paradoxical mixture of pride & disappointment. Shining took the initiative on this one however.
"We're proud of you for telling the truth, but since you really have been bullying your cousin you don't get any new toys until your birthday next month." He said inflicting the harshest punishment he could imagine. Skyla could live with that but still pretended to be saddened by it.
The group settled down & began talking with one another & Discord was trying to teach Skyla & Shining a spell to make vegetables taste like candy when a booming voice blasted the door to the room across the room.
"WHERE IS OUR FAVORITE NEPHEW?!"
Author's Note
I picture Skyla being almost as snobby as Diamond Tiara for some reason. I hate DT so I had her have a change of heart. This will be the last of Draco's powers, & he won't be using it anymore until he's older in the next installment of the series. Which I haven't thought of yet.
Next chapter may be the last one unless I make an epilogue.
Discord's Family Vacation
Luna trotted into the room casually after her dramatic entrance & used her magic to repair the door.
"Greetings assorted friends & relations." She said after making sure the door was back in order. "Tia the posted court time has passed, we shall take thy place in the merry making. I have already taken the liberty of properly aligning the moon after lowering the sun."
Celestia merely sighed before looking to the room full of family & friends.
"It seems I must be off, it was good catching up with everyone. We must do this more often." She said before giving Draco & Skyla a hug. Afterward she left obviously not looking forward to court. Luna however was overjoyed to be away from the stuffy nobles.
"It is so good to see you all, we have been finding it increasingly dull as of late. There is little to no strife in the land & ponies are growing fat & complacent as of late. It is a welcomed relief from the stuffy nobles we have to deal with on a daily basis as well." Luna said walking to the center of the room. The group chatted for awhile but as the clock rang out Luna adopted a serious expression.
"Draco, Twilight, & Shining Armor, I believe the time has come for us to adjourn to the war room. The hour grows later still & time is of the essence!" She said in a tone just short of the royal Canterlot voice. The three stood at attention & saluted.
Discord began laughing, while Cadence rolled her eyes & Spike just nodded his consent to Draco. Luna motioned for the the party in question to follow her. The group walked (or floated) behind Luna, she led them down into the deepest parts the castle. They were farther down than any of the dungeons, the group eventually came to a door made of dark black metal, it had no knob, handle or markings save for a white crescent moon in the center. Luna motioned for the group to wait behind her she stood before the door & spoke.
"luna in aliquet copia"
The door slid upward with a great rumble. Draco always loved this part. Shining was still confused by the string of foreign words, Twilight had translated for him once but she had to off been wrong.
"Hey Luna? What does that mean?" He asked hoping to get a real answer. Luna smiled at him.
"It's an inside joke between Tia & I, don't worry about it." She said before leading them inside.
Luna's "War Room" was actually her personal lounge that not even Celestia could access. The walls were midnight blue, & the carpets were a deep black & were extraordinarily plush. The main room had a wrap around sofa that was a deep purple, it was complete with cup holders & had heating & vibrating settings for each individual seat. The television was larger than most movie theaters & took up an entire wall, Luna said it had been made in Neighpon on her request. She had every video game system you could think of & a few you'd never heard of. The next room was full of pinball machines, a slurpee maker, a cotton candy maker, & a nacho cheese fountain. The next room was full of collectibles of all shapes & sizes, no reproductions, all originals or props. Then was another room full of filing cabinets full of comic books in sleeves, all first prints in mint. The last room was mostly empty save for a good sized round, black marble table. Around the table were hooks on walls behind each of the four chairs with costumes on them. Each of them took their proper place & donned their attire. Twilight a fancier version of her Star Swirl The Bearded outfit minus the beard in her own colors, & a beautiful wood staff with a crystal wrapped in it's branched top. Shining Armor wore intricate gold & silver armor complete with a claymore fitted to the back. Luna herself wore Leather padding decorated with bones & metal patches & had a truly frightening spiked war hammer at her side. Draco wore a black robe that shaded his face & enchanted his eyes to glow red while the hood was up, he was sitting in a particularly detailed chair seemingly made of bones & horns of various creatures. They were ready.
"Remind me again how you afforded this gaming sanctum & collectibles & all." Twilight said looking over to Luna.
"Tia is the diplomat & mother of our nation, whilst we are the military mind & financial wizard. We had a bank account with hefty interest made before we became the Nightmare, it was a fortune then but after a thousand years it is truly staggering. Tia has no idea that we are worth roughly a hundred times what she is." Luna said setting up the maps & handing everyone their character sheets. Draco was also given the necessary accoutrements for his role, including a bag of dice."Now then mighty dungeon master, we desire a quest worthy of legend!" Luna said looking to Draco.
Draco cracked his knuckles & smiled evilly with his illusionairy hood over his head, making him seem fairly menacing.
"The barbarian Night Bringer, The Nameless Mage of Meadowdale & The Paladin Shining Light continue their adventure when they find themselves in a fog. Magic is seen through the haze before the trio find themselves whisked away to a dark cavern. Before you lies the dreaded dungeon of the undead sorcerer Malacarcha. It is surely filled with his diamond dog servants & numerous traps, but the reward will most certainly be worth your troubles. Does your party dare venture into the den of the greatest evil in all the Shadow Lands?" Draco asks the other costumed players.
"It would besmirch the honor of my house to turn down a chance to rid the world of such evil." Shining said pounding a hoof to the table.
"Barbarians never turn down the thrill of the fight!" Shouted Luna as she raised the hammer to the air with her magic.
"We know the risks, we shall not stray from danger so long as darkness threatens the world of Achera" Twilight said striking the staff on the ground activating the crystal light."
"Very well. The door opens revealing two guards sleeping on the other side, one holds a ring of many keys. They could aid you greatly later on, will you try & take them?" Draco asked the group.
"I cast a spell of stealth to aid me in taking them without awakening the guards." Twilight said. Draco rolled a twenty sided dice behind the partition he set up, separating him from the group.
"The guards awaken! Battle is imminent!"
Meanwhile
Cadence, Discord, & Spike were sitting in Celestia's study. Discord had made drinks for everyone, as Skyla had decided to go back to her room to listen to Vinyl Scratch's new album. Cadence was having a changeling mead, a specialty of the Chimera Kingdom at Spike's insistence. She hated to admit it, but drinking alcohol made from love was probably one of the best feelings she had ever experienced. She was still wary of changelings since her previous experience. Discord was drinking something that seemed to be steaming, he called it "pan galactic gargle blaster" & said it was like having your brain smashed out by a lemon wrapped around a solid gold brick. When asked what was in it he simply replied: "I could tell you but I forgot as soon as I drank one, I just make them with magic now." This led the others to decline his offers to make them their own. Spike stuck with his favorite peppermint schnapps, it had become a sentimental thing for him.
"So little Draco's really growing up quickly isn't he?" Cadence asked the proud parents. "He's a little bigger than you were at that age, huh Spike?"
Spike thought on that for a minute.
"Yeah, I suppose he is. He's definitely smarter than I was at that age, plus his crazy powers certainly make things interesting. I have trouble sleeping sometimes you know? I mean he's an amazing child, & I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be than his father, but sometimes I think he's not gonna need me for anything after awhile." Spike said before taking a mighty drink from his bottle. Dragons could process alcohol exceptionally well, so he never worried about getting drunk & Discord could only get drunk if he magically allowed himself to. Cadence stopped at three glasses of the mead. Discord looked over at him with a sad expression.
"Spike, you know our son would never up & leave us even if he had learned everything we had to teach." Discord said almost hurt that Spike would think such a thing.
"Discord's right, believe me. You may not be a typical family by any means, but you three have a great bond & you go well together. Spike, you're the serious one. Discord, you inject comedy into situations & keep things interesting. & little Draco is a literal & figurative mix of the two of you. He has a wonderful personality & always wants to learn, & he's not all work or all play. You love each other just as much as anyone I've ever met, & that's my department even. I've seen you fight, but conflict is necessary to grow. You three will be together forever, even if Draco decides to wander eventually he'll be back." Cadence said resting a hoof on Spike's clawed hand.
After that Spike's stress seemed to melt away, hearing you had a wonderful family from the goddess of love was pretty reassuring. The group talked about embarrassing things about those not present, that would have had them blushing for hours if they had been. Discord talked about the Hearts & Hooves day myth with Cadence who didn't know what to say to him in response. Spike changed the subject for her when he asked what they could get Skyla for her upcoming birthday. After several more hours & twice as many bottles of schnapps the conquering heroes returned.
"We're back." Draco said obviously annoyed before landing on Discord's head in his typical fashion.
"Something wrong?" Spike asked his son as he put all the bottles into a recyclables bin Discord had conjured.
"Luna had a string of bad rolls & took it out on the table." Twilight said trotting into the room with Shining following behind.
"We had to stop there, for obvious reasons." Shining said still wearing his armor & claymore.
"Shining, you are not taking the armor home with us We go through this every time you four play Oubliettes & Ogres." Cadence said looking him over with an annoyed expression.
"But it's so cool!" Shining said acting like a foal arguing with his mother.
"Go put it back Shining." Cadence said still frustrated.
"I don't know the password to get back into the gaming sanctum." Shining said as an excuse & honestly. Discord took it upon himself to snap his fingers stripping Shining of the armor.
"Done, & I fixed the table too." Discord said looking over to Cadence.
"Thank you, at least somepony can act their age once in awhile." She said looking from Discord back to her husband.
"If Papa acted his age he'd be a pile of dust." Draco said giggling. Everyone had a good laugh at this, even Discord. While they were laughing it up Luna teleported into the room. She looked over everyone in confusion.
"Did we miss something?" She said, feeling left out.
"Discord just got called out for being ancient." Spike said putting his arm around his husband.
"Ah yes, we feel odd knowing that we are actually only the third oldest in the castle at the moment." Luna said chuckling a little.
"Well excuse me for being old, see if I fix anymore tables for you." Discord said turning his nose up in mock annoyance.
"Oh, yes. Thank thee for that, that was black Istallion marble. That would have set us back a few bits for certain." Luna said genuinely grateful. The clock struck midnight before anyone could say anything else.
"Well, it's definitely past someone's bedtime." Spike said collecting his son from between Discord's antler & horn. Draco yawned in acknowledgement, not even bothering to fight it. He was merely grateful he had been able to play dungeon master again.
Draco remained conscious long enough to say his goodbyes to his family before they headed back to the throne room that held the telepad. Everyone saw them off as they stood on the platform. The last thing Draco saw before slipping into sleep's gentle embrace was the smiling faces of his family. Their vacation had truly been an interesting & enjoyable experience. They had another day to go, but it was to be a day to rest & relax before their lives settled back into a degree of normalcy. Though there had been a few scares along the way, their family was definitely stronger than the previous week.
Author's Note
This will be the last real chapter. All that's left is the epilogue, also if you read the comics you'd already know Shining Armor played Oubliettes & Ogres the MLP version of Dungeons & Dragons.
If you know what the password meant without looking it up, & got the reference I freaking love you.
I freaking love all my readers anyway, but you also get to feel smart, so whatevs.
Discord's Family Vacation
Draco continued to grow like a weed in the next fifteen years, both mentally & physically. By the time he was twenty his body was twice the overall length of either of his parents. He had also become remarkably thin, he seemed very snake-like. He looped around several times when entering buildings to better fit places. He was most comfortable when soaring through the air above his the kingdom, able to stretch & move freely. He often snuck of to the sea since reaching adolescence to do the same in the water. He didn't develop any new powers beyond those that made themselves known during his childhood.
With the help of his parents he mastered his abilities fairly easily. He eventually mastered his ability to pass through solid objects while under careful supervision, though it took significantly longer than any if the other powers. He eventually told his parents with a heavy heart that he wanted to travel the world, but he would return once he had seen his fill. They keep their ears open for news from creatures that see the serpentine figure snake his way through the skies or the seas. Spike & Discord miss him dearly, but they know that they will be there with open arms when he returns. They have no doubt that their son will return to them one day. In the mean time the immortal couple has a growing country to tend to.
Author's Note
Okay, so I officially suck at Epilogues & I apologize for that. I may or may not write a story about Draco's journey across the world.
For those of you that are still wondering, Luna's gaming sanctum password is: There are plenty of bananas on the moon
http://wulfricashbell.deviantart.com/art/Draco-421213932
That link is Draco age 20. I drew it myself so it's not a masterpiece or anything.
