Fluttershy was not the sort to push things, usually.
Indeed, she was the one that tended to be pushed around. The yellow pegasus was a nice pony, and a good soul...but, if it were possible to transplant spines, she would need the transplant of a full dragon’s spine to even be partially spineless. Which made her early morning appearance at the Ponyville Library unusual, to say the least.
Twilight Sparkle had learned, long ago, that her schedule resembled Rainbow Dash’s in one respect. She didn’t have one-she lived according to the needs of the animals of the forest. Fluttershy got naps and the occasional night’s sleep in when she could, as much rest as possible when she couldn’t. Whenever she wasn’t having to actually work at animal care, she tended to sleep in late and as long as possible.
So, unless something had happened in the early morning hours, her appearance here was unusual. Fluttershy didn’t looked panicked or scared or worried, or a hundred other adjectives that described the same thing to varying degrees (Twilight Sparkle was working her thesaurus hard). It was with that air of confusion that Twilight Sparkle opened up the door to the library and said, “Good morning, Fluttershy, how are you doing?”
“Oh, good morning, Twilight Sparkle,” she said softly. “I was wondering...I mean, after the last few weeks and all of the mess and chaos going on…”
Twilight Sparkle sighed. The defeat of the Order of Eternal Night had sent shockwaves through Canterlot and Equestrian society. The trials, the proscriptions, the executions...three months later, the reverberations of what happened still touched every pony that was involved. Twilight Sparkle nodded, saying, “It’s been crazy, but I always have time for my friends. How can I help?”
“Ah...a few weeks before the eclipse?” Fluttershy started. “I did a favor for Discord. Foal-sitting duty, for foals from other universes…”
Fluttershy flinched as she realized that Twilight Sparkle’s jaw had literally dropped. “He...was bringing foals. From other universes. Here. For you to foal-sit…,” Twilight Sparkle whispered.
“Well, yes,” Fluttershy replied.
“Um...did he bring…,” Twilight Sparkle started to ask.
“Her name was Slippy Time. She had the most beautiful Cutie Mark of a pocket watch surrounded by stars, and she could manipulate time like you could manipulate a quill,” Fluttershy replied, knowing the answer. “She was your foal...with Discord.”
Twilight Sparkle looked at Fluttershy and shuddered, “Well, I hope Discord...wherever they were...was nicer there. So, why are you here?”
“I think Discord is going to ask me again to foal-sit, but...I don’t want the foals to get hurt or something if I don’t know anything about them. Or if there’s something I should know. Or how to diaper a pony with eight legs,” Fluttershy sighed.
“Eight legs?” Twilight Sparkle said, eyebrow raised.
“Slepnir, Discord and Pinkie Pie’s foal-and while not out of diapers, she can run. I could barely catch up with her, flying,” Fluttershy said. “That’s what I’m worried about-pony foals that need more care than I know how to do when they get there. And, I was wondering if you could help me to draw up a contract with Discord...so we could cover everything, please?”
Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath, and smiled. “Of course, Fluttershy. In fact, I have just the thing to help.”
On the edge of the Everfree Forest, Discord was bleeding off chaos.
Small bits of it. Very small.
Controlled doses, really.
Sometimes he just wanted to be random. Discord-level random, really...never, ever Pinkie Pie random.
He did that just once-and he still had nightmares about what that meant.
So, it was with this bit of chaos and confusion, as he was in the process of creating the duck-billed platypus, that Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy flew up to where he was. They waited a nice, respectful distance and Twilight Sparkle coughed, then said, “Good morning to you, Discord.”
“Oh, and a lovely morning it is,” Discord replied. He had almost finished generating enough platypus to ensure a sufficiently large enough genetic population, and he capped it off by making sure there was exactly 5,733 duck-billed platypus. 51% of them were male (within rounding to the largest whole number), and the remaining 49% were female and in the start of their estrus cycle. All were sufficiently not genetically related to ensure that none were less than fourth cousins. He smiled, flipped around, and steepled his fingers as he looked at the two ponies. “So, what can I do for you today?”
“Fluttershy told me about your having her babysit foals-your foals-from other universes a few weeks ago,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Besides the insanely dangerous risk to other universes doing that, and everything else involved...Fluttershy wanted to create a more formal arrangement in case she had to do it again. And so, I wrote up a formal agreement.”
From Elsewhere, a scroll popped out in mid-air. Discord took it, and opened it up. When his fingers touched the scroll, he could feel a soft crackle from the paper that meant only one thing-it was Oath Paper. If he signed it with his name, Discord would be bound by the agreements on the paper. If he broke the agreement...his guilt could be easily seen by magical creatures for decades. “You don’t miss a trick, do you, Twilight Sparkle?” Discord asked, and looked at the contract. “Do you mind if I review it first?”
“So long as it remains unaltered,” Twilight Sparkle noted.
“Oh, it shouldn’t take me that long…,” Discord said, and he read the scroll, as his feet worked on a MacBook Air he had just summoned to take extensive notes. Thirty minutes later, he was done. The contract was simple-Fluttershy would babysit foals for Discord, with certain points of understanding between them. Once you boiled down all the redundant language (the field of legal contracts lost a bright and shining star when Twilight Sparkle became Princess Celestia’s student), the contract read more or less like this-
1-Discord could only bring foals (and “equivalent developmental age sapient entities”) with forty-eight hours warning to Fluttershy. He had to obey linear, pony time in this regards.
2-He could bring no more than four at a time, and for no longer than a week.
3-Any overnight or extended stays had to be previously approved by Fluttershy.
4-He had to provide at least a week’s worth of food per day of stay (and storage for the food to keep it properly), if the foals were not able to eat an Equestrian pony diet.
5-They had to be able to live on Equestria without external support.
6-They had to be able to communicate-fully, clearly, and without translation errors-with anypony around and their fellow foals.
7-Basic and emergency medical care information-if they were not ponies-had to be provided as well.
8-Emergency contact and return information had to be provided. It had to be independent of Discord in all respects.
9-The foals had to understand-to the fullest of their ability-where they were and what was going on.
10-Payment was on the basis of foals times duration. One foal for one day equaled about a third of the daily cost (in utilities and taxes) for running Fluttershy’s clinic and home. Fluttershy could declare, per foal-sitting session, up to two foals to be “difficult”, and the rate for the foal-sitting became a full day’s cost of running her clinic and home for them.
Discord considered all of this, and then considered the codicil to the document. “You’re asking Fluttershy for payment as part of this, and the payment is something from me,” Discord asked, curiously.
“Yes, I keep seeing references to ‘the Codex Aleria’ in some of Clover the Clever’s notes,” Twilight Sparkle said, “and Fluttershy offered to make my payment a favor from you that you owe her from the beet incident. What I’d like is three copies of the Codex Aleria, as referred to by Clover the Clever in this version of the multiverse, in clear and understandable current modern Equestrian language, in a book or on a scroll that can be opened and closed safely and by the reader’s choice, with one copy for myself, one copy for Princess Celestia, and one copy for the Royal Canterlotian Magical Library. Oh, and properly filed and annotated and with a proper reference number in the Magical Library.”
Discord sighed, and considered this. “I told you I was very, very sorry for the beets, Fluttershy,” he said softly to her.
“You did promise,” Fluttershy said softly in reply.
“Are you sure you don’t want something else, Twilight Sparkle?” Discord asked, looking at her nervously. “Infinite number of single and available and incestuous Shining Armors? The location of the secret harem chambers in Canterlot Palace? What would really turn Princess Celestia lesbian for you, of her own free will?”
“The book or scroll, Discord,” Twilight Sparkle said, insistent. “I’ve known where the harem was in Canterlot Palace for years.” To Fluttershy’s shocked expression, “What? I haven’t been a virgin for at least three years. And, I like both mares and stallions, so…”
Discord sighed. “You won’t let me out of this, will you?”
“No,” Twilight Sparkle said firmly. “Are we in agreement?”
Discord shook his head. “All right, all right. One second…,” and he pulled out from a hidden compartment in his horn a small scroll. “One copy of the Codex Aleria for you, Twilight Sparkle-the others have been delivered. And, now…”
From his other horn, he took out a quill pen made from...a purple feather. “Borrowed one of your molted feathers, Twilight Sparkle, hope you don’t mind,” Discord smiled and formally signed the document, a small crackle of power flowing from his fingers to the paper. He rolled it up, and handed it to Fluttershy. “Now that we have a formal contract on this matter...I need an overnight sitting, three foals, this weekend.” He turned to look at Twilight Sparkle, “See! Seventy-two hours warning, not forty-eight! But, I promise to provide all the details ahead of time.”
“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Fluttershy said softly. “I think we’ll be fine.”
“Excellent!” Discord said, pulling out a set of car keys. He hit the alarm fob and a tree made a beep beep sound. “I’ll have the dossiers and favorite food items to you by tomorrow. See you then!”
Discord hopped into the tree he had previously beeped and drove it off into the Everfree Forest, roots squealing. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy just looked at each other and Twilight Sparkle shrugged. “Well, he is chaotic…”
The next day, Discord was standing in her living room, smiling. “Three foals. Your dossiers, and one of them has special diet needs,” Discord noted the sealed white block containers-each roughly the size of a pony’s head-in the room. “The containers are stasis blocks, whatever is in them will remain unchanged as long as they’re sealed shut.”
“Thank you,” Fluttershy replied, and started to read the dossiers. It was the second one that made her look up at Discord, back at the dossier, then at the containers. “Um, one of them is a wolf, Discord.”
“Her development is at the same point as an equivalent foal her age. She’s as much a sentient and sapient being as you are, she knows what is going on, and I think her and Twilight Sparkle will get along like a house on fire,” Discord noted. “And, I provided you with enough meat for two weeks worth of time. I know you have several carnivores you can feed when we’re all done.”
“Where did the meat come from,” Fluttershy asked carefully.
“Some caribou raiders in the North,” Discord said. “Trust me, they got better than what they were going to do to a pony village up there when I found them,” Discord snarled softly.
“That’s...sapient meat? Discord, that’s murder!” Fluttershy spoke, half-angry and half-sad. And began to warm up the Stare.
“No,” Discord replied, pulling out a scroll, “I’d call it ‘pre-emptive self-defense’, as they were going to do horrible things to those ponies. You should have seen their dreams and fantasies alone, Fluttershy! I could show them to you, but do bring a bucket-you’d need it at least once. And, I only...harvested them when they crossed the city line, in a full charge in armor. They were there to do bad things, and they knew the consequences for their actions if they were caught. I was just...immediate.
“Besides, Wind Walker has a slight impulse control problem, and having her not eat your friends is a good idea,” Discord noted. “Good food helps.”
Fluttershy looked at the other two dossiers, and nodded. “So...just overnight? Nothing more than that? And, three foals-two pegasui and a wolf?”
“Wolf cub,” Discord corrected. “About equal to a three-year old foal, and potty trained. The wolf cub is...well, she’s a witch. Sort of the wolf equivalent of a unicorn, but a bit less formal in the training. She can, mind you, read. Very well, in fact. Which is why I think her and Twilight Sparkle will get along like a house on fire. A chance to study a different set of magic-on both ends?” Discord smiled. “I suspect that both of them will try to find reasons why they can’t leave.”
“Oh my,” Fluttershy said, a bit more calmly.
“Trust me, she also knows to not eat ponies. According to her, too stringy and tough,” Discord shook his head. “But, seriously, it’ll be fine! Oh, and the return tokens…”
Discord pulled out from behind his back three small jewels on a chain. “Touch the pony-or the cub-with the gem that matches them, and they go back home instantly. To a safe location in their own homes, I promise. Anything else?”
“No, I think we’ve covered everything,” Fluttershy replied, and Discord smiled.
“Excellent! See you this weekend,” Discord tapped a spot on his chest and something went beep beep. “One to beam up.”
In a shower of light, Discord teleported away, and Fluttershy started to read all the dossiers she had.
She was definitely going to have to warn some of her woodland friends with Wind Walker...
Author's Note
It BEGINS! And, just about any possible foal combination is possible, and we'll be delving into some of the more...interesting combiations as time goes by.
