Shy Continuum

Chapters

Who I Am
Mortality
Family
Enterprisal Advice
Four's A Crowd
Authors Note

Who I Am

How long has it been? Three, four, maybe five years since he met the butter yellow mare? It was extremely bizarre to think he had managed to grow a bond with someone as quickly as that. Normally it would take centuries for someone to even think of liking him. He wasn’t the easiest person to like. Even he could admit that. He had come to this little pocket around three thousand years ago with Amanda, who now called herself Screwball, so that they could attempt a relationship. She wanted to be a Q instead of a human, and, as he was curious enough to have caused feline genocide, he, for whatever reason, decided ‘hey, why not adopt this psychopath?’.

Even now he questioned his odd choice.

Well, it had been a very good choice apparently, since this world of sunshine and rainbows wore her off her lust for killing. Yeah, she had been quite the Amazon during the war; he preferred her being a little naïve filly to that beast. Maybe it wasn’t so insane to Hasbro-fy her?

While he and Screwy were trying out a relationship, his actual kid was attempting to get on mama’s good side, who had gone back in time to get with Worf just to spite him… Yeah, she wasn’t the type of woman you should scorn, because she’d go with a pea-brained hammerhead behind your back. Then again, she wasn’t exactly the loyal type.

Screwy was having a nap at the moment. She was so used to the human thing that she couldn’t help it, which he allowed. Discord had been fine for a while, just getting out all his mad ideas and to vent all his chaotic thoughts. He didn’t expect the equines around here to be so order-driven, it was enough to choke even the most goodie do-gooder Q. He’d fixed it and, for that, they decided to fight the omnipotent being. Discord had been thinking about what a nap would be like, so he let them turn him to stone to give it a shot. It wouldn’t have been that bad if he hadn’t been used as a garden gnome.

Fluttershy—a name that was as ridiculous as Twilight Sparkle or all the other extremely silly names—was very… different from what he was used to. She was kind, a little too kind; she was as innocent as they could come, as loving and caring as someone could be. Hell, if she could get him to give a damn about her, she could probably get anybody to care about her. It was weird that he actually wanted her to be happy, wanted her around, and possibly enjoyed her company... an actual friend. Not someone who tolerated him, not someone who held their wrath on the inside, but someone who actually gave a damn about him. She forgave him when he’d stabbed them all in the back, which he’d done just so he could liven things up, and she had managed to make him feel guilty about it.

He, someone who had ended the lives of millions with a snap of his fingers, felt guilty over betraying one little pegasus who could barely even fly.

He didn’t really know how to feel about her. He’d actually gone as far as to try to change himself just so he didn’t scare her, which apparently wasn’t very wise to do. Q could fade away if they tried being something they weren’t, so that was apparently a thing? He’d felt jealous when she got that hippie to go with her to some party instead of him; He’d gotten involved in some role-playing game with a red horse and a baby dragon... if he didn’t know any better it sounded like he was settling down. Well, he was a father, the only father in the Continuum, so he didn’t know if this was how this was supposed to go.

“Discord?” He’d been sitting on her couch while pondering what he wanted to do. What he was going to do. He might scare off his one true friend; he might not. It was a little scary not knowing something. That was possibly why he remained there: because it was filled with new things and new experiences. Their views on friendship were practically cultish, but, still, he was attached to them.

And there she was. That yellow mare, the one who possibly taught him what being a mortal was like without actually becoming one. “What’s wrong? You seem troubled.”

“Not at all… well ok, maybe a little.” She actually mattered, how she felt mattered, as did her reaction to this. “I’ve wanted to tell you something for a while now. I’ve been thinking it over for the past few days and I'm not sure how you’d react to it…”

Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to expect. This wasn’t like Discord, to seem so vulnerable and even... a little frightened? What was it that was upsetting him? The Element of Kindness smiled warmly, walking into the kitchen to make some tea. “It might scare you, and I don’t fancy losing the only real friend I have.”

“Discord, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” She prepared the tea, walking over and putting it on her coffee table. He seemed so... so off today. She didn’t know what was up with him. “You can tell me when you’re ready. We have time.” He did. He had all the time in the universe, but she didn’t. She was in her early twenties now, it still felt like a day to him, and he didn’t like it. if it were up to him, he’d make her immortal, but he knew better than to do that. Her opinion mattered to him, which was also slightly frightening since barely anybody’s opinion mattered to him. Other than his son and extremely unstable adopted daughter, and Jean, not many people mattered.

She could see the turmoil in his eyes. Once filled with youth and childishness, they were now filled with old age and possible wisdom. It was like a stranger was looking back at her when he looked into her genuinely sweet cyan orbs.

“I’m not a Draconequus, there’s no such thing. My name isn’t Discord, I’m not a spirit, and I’m not the last of my kind.” He’d grown attached to that name. Discord. It suited him. The Continuum was starting to figure out the idea of having children, maybe the next thing was names?

He had a name, he’d chosen it a couple centuries after he’d been made, but most Q just called themselves Q. Quinn hadn’t been wrong that it had become stagnant. His war had shaken things up enough for there to be change, but children weren’t going to be enough. Living with these mortals, he could see just how arrogant the Continuum had become before he’d changed it. Yes, he possibly could’ve gone about it another way, but, sometimes, words weren’t loud enough.

“I’m a Q from the Q Continuum. I’m a God, not just in name like Tia or Lulu. I’m an actual omniscient deity… I’ve lived countless millennia, to the point where a thousand years is just a minute for me.”

Fluttershy had always wondered if Discord really was a god. He had such power, such abilities, it was crazy to believe otherwise- Even Celestia called him a God. But this was different. He was part of a species, there were more like him. Were they as powerful as he was? He sounded so old, so tired. It was enough for her to know he wasn’t lying or telling half-truths. He’d wanted to say this to her for a while, wanted to come out and tell her that Discord… wasn’t real. The Draconequus she’d gotten to know was a mask, a façade for an older being to wear, one of the many outfits he liked to wear. She wasn’t sure how to process this. She couldn’t tell him off for it, she had encouraged it after all.

“Discord isn’t real?” He gave the hand gesture ‘not entirely’ which the author didn’t know how to describe. You know, the one you do with your hands that makes it look like its surfing on air?. Forget it. “So, who are you really?” She wanted to ask if the years they’d known each other meant anything. He started to glow, and in a dimmed down flash, he was in his old form… captain outfit and all. It surprised her, but she didn’t run away. “What’s that? Is that your real form?”

“No, my real form would cause your bones to melt and your eyes to turn to ice, but this is the form my people are most commonly in. It’s called a human.” Twilight had mentioned humans when she went to that other world, but she said that they looked just like them, just bipedal and ape-ish. He didn’t look like that. No, he was something different.

“Discord started out as a façade, but over the years, the line between the mask and myself has blurred. I’m still Discord, this is just what's behind the curtains.” She was a little disturbed by the strange being, how little fur it had and how off it was. It was like nothing she’d seen before. “It doesn’t scare you too much, does it? I haven’t exactly been in this situation before… which is a lot considering I’m older than that sun of yours.”

He wasn’t going to tell her than him staying here was what caused the once weak magic to suddenly grow in power. When he eventually leaves, it would be like the dark ages of the arcane; he doubted Celestia would be able to hold the illusion that she raised the sun anymore.

No, Celestia didn’t raise the sun, he just made it seem like she did. It gave her and her dear sister a sense of purpose and he wanted to see what happened if mortals believed they had control over celestial bodies. Apparently, it made them very arrogant and self-righteous. Luna was broody and Celestia made herself seem like the all-mother when the two were really just puppets who didn’t know that the strings had yet to leave their hooves. They would forever be fun to play with, especially since Celly had that Klingon ‘no-nonsense’ thing about her.

“No, no. It’s ok. I’m just surprised, that’s all.” Fluttershy was hiding how confused she was, and that it hurt her slightly. Discord, the fun-loving Draconequus had been a persona for an older deity that was ancient and likely bored. “It’s just... does our friendship disappear with Discord?”

“That’s what caused me to come out. I only care about five people: my son, my daughter, a human, an android, and you.” It would be six, but she still owed him for that Worf thing. Fluttershy blinked a couple times, surprised to hear the words ‘son’ and ‘daughter’. He was a parent? “Oh, right. Forgot I never mentioned that. Well, I have a son who is currently trying to get on his mother’s good side... likely failing, considering what a backstabber she is. Why I ever went out with her, I’ll never understand. ...and remember that pink earth pony with swirly eyes when I took over? That’s my adopted daughter…”

A psychopath who should probably never leave the planet lest she commits omnicide. Again. Eighty dead under her belt. Yeah, didn’t really trust her that much yet. Maybe he should make her mortal and lock her memories away? He cared slightly for her, but he also liked being alive and she’d been extremely savage during the war.

Being in this room wasn’t going to do much to help this. He needed more space, and that was exactly what he was going to get… and give.

He snapped his fingers, and, in a flash, the two of them were above the planet’s atmosphere. It scared the pegasus for a few moments, but he made a cloud appear under her, so she wouldn’t fear falling into the starry abyss around them. This was better. A gravity-devoid environment where that demonic rabbit wouldn’t be able to interrupt anything. Well, there was gravity, but it was just easier to say that there wasn’t. Fluttershy looked down to the planet below, her eyes wide at the orb of blues and browns below. There were some greens but those weren’t very easy to see.

“Discord?” He hadn’t said his name, had he? Well, it wouldn’t hurt him if he let her keep calling him that “What is this?”

“Oh nothing, just wanted a change of atmosphere. We’re in space above your planet’s atmosphere. For a planet the size of Pluto, it's not that bad.” Pluto wasn’t a planet, but he didn’t really have the time to care. “Behind us is your moon, and over there is the sun. Tia doesn’t actually raise it, I just let her think she does, it makes her extremely arrogant to the point that it’s funny.” Probably only funny to him, but he made many jokes that were only funny to him. He snapped his fingers and held out his hand, holding the whole of the mare’s solar system in his hand “It’s difficult to try and see things from your points of view when I’m able to create and destroy however I please… the only thing I can’t seem to force is the friendship you’ve given to me. I can try, but then I’d end up like Sombra, with loads of slaves I want to believe are my friends but aren’t.”

He probably shouldn’t have shown her he could do that. He snapped his fingers, putting the solar system back to where it was before. “Scared yet?”

She wanted to be scared. She had known Discord, or whatever he called himself, was powerful- but not this powerful. It hurt her brain trying to process what she’d seen. Her whole world was so small... they were so small to him. He wasn’t kidding when he said was a god. He legitimately was a god.

It knotted in her stomach when she remembered how rude and hostile her friends had been, how they still were, and he just let them do it despite having the power to crush all of them in between his fingers. And he valued being her friend… shouldn’t she be afraid of that? Shouldn’t Fluttershy, the timidest mare in Equestria, be scared of this extremely powerful creature? No… she pitied him. He was ancient, he was forever living. In her opinion, immortality was the curse of loneliness. It had been what attracted her to Discord the first time, how lonely he was. Seeing what he was and what he could do, it made her feel even more sorry for him.

“No…” That was surprising. “Are there... are there more like us? Like our sun and our moon?” Last time he showed a pony how tiny their world really was, they became cuckoo. Hm, what a brave mare... She was supposed to be terrified, yet here she was, asking him about what he ruled.

“The stars around us? Each one is a sun. Some of them have their own planets, their own moons, their own people. Some may look similar to you, though the majority are bipedal like this form I’m in.” She felt tiny to be around such massiveness. She’d always believed Equestria was enormous when it wasn’t at all. There was so much... too much. She wanted to see it, to touch it and to meet the aliens that she never knew were real. Discord himself was an alien, literally, and he could take her to all of these places. The Guide to the Galaxy.

“You don’t mind? I was kind of expecting you to get all shouty and threaten to blast me with those little trinkets. FYI, they don’t work. It just made you feel more secure believing they did. The 'trapped in stone' thing was me testing out what a nap felt like.”

Surprisingly, Fluttershy didn’t care. Why should she? Everything she believed in, it was extremely minor and insignificant to the world outside her world. When she looked to the sky, she always thought that they were just fancy lights in the sky, but, no, they were all their own suns with their own planets and their own ponies. Or people? All her fears, they suddenly felt silly. She was scared of holidays, of newsponies, she was afraid of her own shadow for a couple years. What did she have to fear when she had a deity by her side? He was beyond powerful, and Fluttershy believed their times together had been genuine, even if Discord was a mask for him to wear.

“I... don’t think I can be?” She opened her wings, a very faint smile on her face “You’re so powerful, you could destroy us without any effort at all, but you don’t. I… I actually feel sorry.”

“What for?”

“To be so powerful and so old, it must be hard to connect to other beings. I believe that you were genuinely trying to make friends, but you didn’t know how, or were reluctant because you’d outlive us?” She was as sharp as ever. He’d taken notice of her sharpness, like an obsidian dagger. After he’d said his little riddle, Fluttershy had asked to go home, she’d figured it out in a snap! She couldn’t be manipulated by him, not without considerable effort on his part. That, and he didn’t really want to. It was so rare to find such a genuinely innocent and pure being. “I’m happy that you believed you could share this with me. Is it alright if I keep calling you Discord?”

“The name has grown on me. Might as well.” This went better than he thought it would. “You know, I could take you anywhere and anywhen. Time is nothing to me… well, it is, considering that everyone I meet always dies... Leaving me behind. I’m tired. Tired of being alone… I have my son, but he’ll go off someday to do his own thing. I’m not sure what to do with Screwy, the human and android I mentioned tolerate me more than like me… my own people don’t tolerate me as much as they do. I had a girlfriend, but she kept going behind my back to spite me. In some very pathetic and pitiful way, you’re all I’ve got.” The yellow pegasus wrapped her forelimbs around his waist, hugging him tightly, and he let her. “Look at what you’ve done, you’ve made me all sappy.”

"You're more sweet than sappy."

"Semantics."

Mortality

Fluttershy trotted through town, a spring in her every step. It had been a week since Discord came out of the omnipotent closet to her about who and what he was, and she had begun making a few changes in her life. She suddenly didn’t mind going to a shop or the market to buy things; most of her fears were in her head. Her mind was too filled up with what she’d seen above her atmosphere, all of those beautiful stars and, well, everything else she had seen.

She was currently buying carrots for Angel Bunny and was going to get some tea that Discord suggested. Earl Grey, she hadn’t really heard of that before until last week. If she didn’t find it she was sure he could get some, being a god and all.

Was this wrong? Was it wrong that Fluttershy wasn’t afraid of him? Should she be? The amount of trust it must have taken to tell her all of that, to show her... it meant a lot to her. He’d even dropped something about Sombra of all ponies, forcing friendship on others would be akin to slavery in his eyes. He wanted the real thing, which was what she offered.

But sometimes that saddened the mare.

She was one of the five people he cared about. he’d slightly broken down saying she was all he had at the moment, and that broke her heart a little. She didn’t want him to watch her grow old and die like everyone else he knew, but what could she, a magicless mare, do to spare him that pain?

Every now and again, Fluttershy would think about joining him. It was just a thought, a random thing you’d get every now and again. What time was it? Why were rabbits so small? What makes the sky blue? Could you fit a folded flip-flop in your mouth? Just, silly things your brain chugged out. Every now and again, she’d think about being immortal, so he wouldn’t be all alone. She ignored it most of the time, like all the crazy things that went through her head, but sometimes it lingered. Could she do that? Could she abandon her view on immortality for a lonely god?

“Honey?” The mare snapped out of her thoughts, looking to Carrot Top. “You seemed a little dazed, something up?” Fluttershy didn’t want to talk about it. Ok, that was a lie, she wanted to tell everyone, but who would believe her? They’d just say he was tricking her, that he was lying, but she believed him.

Somebody had to.

“I’m alright,” She half-lied “Can I have my usual for Angel please?” Carrot Top smiled and put three carrots into a little paper bag and mouthed it over to the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy gave her two bits and tucked the little bag under her wing.

“Does anypony sell Earl Grey? Discord suggested it to me.” Carrot made a face that Fluttershy couldn’t identify, though it was probably negative. Ponies still found her relationship with the deity bizarre, but what was wrong with that? She didn’t really need to care what others thought; maybe some day she could get him to be comfortable with his real self around others?

“I’m a tea enthusiast myself, but I haven’t heard of Earl Grey, probably something that Draconequus of yours made up to get you to chase your own tail.” It probably just didn’t exist in Equestria. Fluttershy thanked the mare for the carrots, then went on her way home. “Take care of yourself Flutters!” She waved a wing goodbye as she trotted home, that spring still in her hooves.

Fluttershy looked around as she headed home, the stars still in her memory, branded there for eternity. There was so much she could ask to see, so much she could ask to do, the possibilities were endless!.

She couldn’t see everything, not while she wasn’t immune to the trickles of time. The more she thought about the idea, the more she liked it. She could see so many things, learn all there was about the ‘universe’ as he called it. But there was going to be a downside to being around the deity.

She’d always thought that immortality is not only about loneliness, but you’d lose yourself as time went on. You’d become apathetic towards mortals, seeing them as nothing but ants beneath your hooves. Given how Discord was in the past, which he’d probably been like for eons, it wasn’t hard to imagine that he probably hasn’t been the best out there. It was likely he’d ended the lives of many, he was more than capable of it, and that little thought was causing some minor conflict inside of her.

She knew that without bad things, the good wouldn’t be good or that they as a civilization wouldn’t be able to grow. Discord was a chaotic force of nature, so it was likely all Q were like that. Maybe not as crazy as her friend, but still chaotic.

Maybe the Q were nature itself? That meant he’d probably have done things that could make her angry at him. Could she be angry with him? She was the only mortal he cared about, after all, and that implied he didn’t have any connection to mortal beings.

He was starting to confuse her now. Discord, he was genuine with her, he was becoming open about who he was and what he could do, which should be scaring her. She should be terrified, should be running and crying for help, but she wasn’t. The possibly most dangerous creature in the universe, in reality, was her friend. How could she be angry at that? How could she run from something that happened a very few times in HIS lifetime? Should she talk to Twilight and her friends?

That might seem like a betrayal in his eyes; she didn’t want to betray him, didn't want to hurt him. He’d hurt her in the past, though it was obvious he was very ignorant about friendship. He knew the facts but didn’t know the experience.

Maybe she should teach him how to make friends? Then he wouldn’t be so lonely! Then he could make more connections to people and… watch them all turn to dust.

It’d just make him lonelier and more hurt and sad. That was one of the curses of immortality, a curse that she sometimes considered to spare him his pain. She was the Element of, oh, she’d forgotten about that. She was the Element of Kindness; the Elements of Harmony were just some trinkets he used so that they felt safe around him. Didn’t that mean Discord picked who had the Elements? Had he deemed her the kindest mare in Equestria? Was he the source of the friendship between her and the others?

The revelation he’d given her last week was flipping her whole world upside down, she doubted he meant for any of this to happen, but still, it made her think. If not for him, would any of her life be how it is? It was plausible that it was Discord that let Rainbow reach a Sonic Rainboom, and as he was a god, maybe he could choose whose Cutie Marks were what?

That would also explain Celestia and Luna’s Cutie Marks, as they weren’t actually in control of the sun and moon, even though their Marks would say otherwise.

Before she knew it, Fluttershy had walked right into her door. Shaking her head, the mare pushed it outwards because that somehow works. She sighed, not surprised by what she saw. There was Discord, and Angel, having a glaring contest. It was a little amusing now to see a very powerful deity having a standoff with a little white bunny, acting as if the two were on equal grounds when he wasn’t just on top a pillar; hewasthe pillar. If that made any sense? He saw her and had that childish grin he always had when his gaze fell on her. Now she believed it was a genuine relief to see someone who he knew liked him back instead of him just playing with somebody.

“Flutters!” He said in a cheery tone. “You wouldn’t happen to have that tea I suggested? I remember that human I mentioned to you drank it a lot and I thought I’d give it a try.” She shook her head, which he didn’t seem to mind. “Damn.”

She suggested he magicked some up, but it was his turn to shake his head. “Magically created food isn’t nearly as palatable as the real thing, I can't ever get the taste just right.” That was interesting to know. When you artificially make something, it doesn’t taste the same as the original. Discord was probably the only one who could tell the difference, but still, interesting to learn. “Do we have any of that Ginger Tea left?”

“I think so?” Before Fluttershy walked to the kitchen, she saw him transform back into the form she’d seen last week. He appeared to be very comfortable inside of it, which she didn’t mind, but she was still getting used to how bizarre it looked. Angel Bunny squeaked many protests about the new look while she went through the cupboards, forgetting about the carrots tucked under her wing.

“Stop complaining, aren’t you late for something? I’m pretty sure someone fell down your rabbit hole.”

Fluttershy made a small sigh as she started making tea, thinking about her situation again. There was that thought. It’d galloped past, but she’d seen it. The idea of immortality that he could probably easily grant. That thought was weighting heavy on her today, the idea of living forever and watching everyone you know die.

But, the thought from earlier... wasn’t Discord the reason they were friends in the first place? Fluttershy was starting to struggle to wrap her mind around this spot she’d encouraged to be in.

“Should give you to Woundwort…”

She walked back, sitting the tea on her coffee table, hen sat on the couch beside the ex-Draconequus. She bit her lower lip, wondering what she should ask. She could ask him anything, and he’d probably have an answer. She wanted him to be open with her, and he was likely going to be open, but could she discuss what she wanted to? If she did become immortal, would she ever be able to love? If she decided she wanted foals, would they be immortal? Or would she have to see them wither away while she remained? Surely, he’d been in a similar situation once, where he’d cared about someone and wanted a kid, but couldn’t? Or was she trying to force her hooves in shoes that wouldn’t fit?

“Discord?” She looked up to the being, trying her best serious face. “Does it hurt? Being immortal? Watching everyone you care about wither away?” That wa a question he’d both expected and not expected.

“If you don’t care about them, they can’t hurt you when they eventually die.” It was blunt, but it was honest, one that hit the mare hard. It made her struggle with the idea of immortality more. He cared about her, he’d have to see her die, she didn’t want him to lose something so precious to him. He had so little despite having so much. If you had everything, did you really have anything? If you owned everything in the world, it’d be impossible to gain anything because it was already yours. He couldn’t own friendship, it was one of the very few things he didn’t own, so losing it would hurt that much more.

“is it gonna hurt if I go away?”

He was about to answer before noticed the ‘if’ in that sentence. He’d been asked by many for immortality; he saw what it did to people. Celestia and Luna only managed because they were led to believe that they had a purpose other than his amusement, and they had each other.

He could see it: she was considering immortality just for his sake. That was so like her he couldn’t even be mad.

“I have seen what making a mortal immortal does Shy, it isn’t something I want to see happen to you. It’ll hurt more watching you descend into something… well, like when I discorded you.” He looked down at his hands. “That daughter I mentioned? She was just some girl who developed Q powers because of her stupid parents who turned themselves mortal. She was a sweet, innocent and naïve teen who at first declined her powers, but then she accepted them… and that immortality turned a sweet teen into a monster whose killed a lot of people, including our own kind. Immortality is a disease, it will turn you hollow and suck out everything that makes me like you. You’ll end up becoming a monster like Screwy, and I’ll have to live with the guilt that I turned you into that abomination.”

She took in a deep breath through her nose and let it out her mouth, a little sad that she’d started their afternoon with such a melancholic topic. He’d seen it happen before, he adopted someone who’d gone through what she wanted. Mortality to immortality. He didn’t want it to destroy her, to eat away at what he liked about her. Losing herself to that curse was possibly far worse than death, for the both of them.

“How do you keep it from eating you alive?” She asked, sipping some of her tea that tasted like gingerbread. Last time she drank it, it made her orange.

“I was born immortal. Well, not born, I was made immortal. I’ve always been this! Otherwise, it would probably tear me apart... like what would happen to you.”

So Discord couldn’t make himself mortal because it would destroy him. So, in a way, they were stuck. Possibly, deep in his subconscious, he wanted mortality but couldn’t have it, just like how many ponies wanted to become immortal. She thought about the alicorns. Weren’t they immortal?

“What about the Alicorns? Twilight, Cadence, Celestia, all of them are immortal, aren’t they? How come they aren’t torn apart or hollowed?”

Celestia was stupid for giving Twilight wings. To keep the illusion of alicorns up he had to make her immortal as well; considering how little he cared about Sparky he didn’t really mind seeing the unstable mare be eaten away. Princess of Friendship, what hogwash.

“I made them immortal. I don’t care about Twilight; her name keeps reminding me of that atrociously comedic vampire series that sullied the awesomeness of the eighties. Celestia and Luna are led to believe they’re goddesses, that and they have each other to fall back on. And until now I forgot about Princess of Uselessness of The Crystal Methpire.” Fluttershy didn’t like the fact he didn’t like Twilight over something as trivial as her name, but what could she really do about it? if he made her mortal, it would disrupt all ponykind knew about Alicorns and that could possibly turn the monarchy on its head. “You don’t want to be an immortal sweetheart, I don’t want you to degrade into something I’ll have to regret… I have enough as there is…” he sounded truly upset by that. She put a hoof on what she believed was his thigh, attempting to comfort him.

“I don’t want you to be all alone Discord,” she smiled. “You said the Elements weren’t real, right? Does that mean you chose us six to be together?”

Actually, he just randomly picked four ponies from a town and one that hung around Sunbutt. He chose Shy to represent Kindness deliberately because of how nice she was. Rainbow being Loyalty? Pah! That was a joke, she was barely loyal to her own voice with how often it cracked. Applejack of Honesty? she lied more than a politician! And Rarity... Did he really need to say more about her? Generosity his backside. Pinkie Pie was just a glitch in reality that he hadn’t bothered to patch because she was so amusing.

“You gave me five amazing friends, probably by accident, but you still did it. You have a kind heart, and I don’t want it to break when it’s my time… The Alicorns stay who they are because they have a sense of purpose, why can’t my purpose be to be your friend?” Her selflessness truly knew no bounds. He didn’t want her to give up her life for him; he’d seen it happen and didn’t want to be responsible for her downfall.

“Shy, you don’t know what you’re suggesting.” Her eyes said otherwise. Maybe he could scare her away from the subject? “What I do... I’m not some almighty protector or angel. I’ve ended the lives of millions, destroyed whole worlds, toppled empires and you’ve seen how I enjoy turning people on their heads. I ‘torment’ species, I push them over their limits, so they grow… I create and destroy religions, I’ve caused wars, some minor, some devastating. I’ve even pushed my own kind into a war.” Now her eyes were demanding he explained. Not the fact he’d committed genocide, but the fact that he’d started a war. He sighed “You want me to tell you about that as well, don’t’ you?”

“Yes.” Deep down, she didn’t know where all of this courage was coming from. He just said he had pushed his own kind into a war, she should be running. Why wasn’t she running?! Why was she still here? Where was all of his courage coming from? Where? How? Why?! Questions she was likely never going to answer, not while she was having these few minutes of bravery.

“I was, well, like a combination of Applejackie, Gaypride and a bit of Shmarity back a very, very long time ago. A downright little brat. My people scolded me, shoved me back in line, then a few years later a Q was freed from his holding comet. Called himself Quinn.

"He wanted to die, wanted to commit suicide, not something the Q are very used to. The mere thought of dying seemed impossible to us at the time.” They weren’t so arrogant about that anymore. After the war, there’d been suicides from Q who couldn’t handle the trauma. He felt,something, about that. It wasn’t guilt, but it was something. “Well before he kicked the bucket, he told me he was inspired by me.”

“inspired?” She asked curiously, watching him and trying her best cute face to get it out of him. She didn’t ever think she’d have a conversation like this, but, this was Discord, his very existence was to turn you on your head.

And it appeared that nothing he did could get rid of her. Discord hated it when she did that face, those eyes melting the vibranium around his non-existent heart.

“Quinn was a philosopher, and he spoke against the cCntinuum. Before he got locked away for running his mouth, he argued and pointed out our many flaws. Many of us didn’t even see each other let, alone talk to one another because everything’s been said, everything’s been seen, I know now that’s an exaggeration, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. He wanted to have the right to die since all we did was exist… the only thing that got other Q to talk to one another was me. My childishness, my antics, and my very rebellious nature was so different and out of line, I got them to converse with one another, and that inspired him.” He kind of missed Quinn, not that he knew why. “He was disappointed when he heard I’d been pushed back in line… and that inspired me. I rose the banner, sounded the horn, and demanded change, people that followed Quinn rallying behind me. It descended into a war, a lot of people died, I got shot a couple times, got a scar on my arm to prove it, and I ended it by having a son. The first-born child in over ten millennia by our standards.”

The sleeve on his left arm disappeared, showing the mark. Given how advanced the weapons they used against one another were, it wasn’t surprising he’d been left with a couple of marks. Better than some who had the equivalent of limbs removed. Yeah, it was pretty nasty.

Fluttershy swallowed down, looking at the shot wound. She’d seen gunshot wounds on animals she cared for, as some ponies were cruel enough to shoot at them for fun. Evil poachers. Discord was a much deeper person than she’d first believed. Before all of this, he was a childish spirit with too much power than to know what to do with, and now he was an ancient, lonely deity who had a strong past behind him.

He was hoping this got her to change her mind about the immortality thing.

“You brought chaos to order, maybe you’re more like your mask than you believed?” Not the answer he was expecting. He kinda expected her to change the subject; but this was Fluttershy, she was harder to fool or coerce than many would believe. “This doesn’t dissuade me, Discord, if anything, it makes me want to help you more. Despite being in a war, you’ve kept your kind heart, and I want to help you keep it.” Oh god, he made it worse.

“You're impossible, you know that?”

“You like me being impossible.”

“True.” Why was he agreeing to this? "I don’t want you to give up your life for me Shy, not when you have your whole existence ahead of you. It’ll hurt when you’re eventually gone, I’ll even walk you to the pearly gates or whatever you think the afterlife looks like. I’ll open the field fence, the golden stables etcetera. You won’t be able to have kids, your family will die, you’re going to have to be hurt over and over again.”

“Like you?”

“Yes, like me!” He bit his lip and the immediate response. Dammit, why di she have to be so good at that? He pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning in frustration. Fluttershy hugged him again, why he still let her he didn’t know. There was a little pat on the ground, the sound of a fallen bag. He looked, seeing a bag with carrots inside of it. Hm, she must’ve forgotten about it?

“You don’t want me to be hurt like you have, that’s really sweet of you. But it’s my choice. I don’t want you to be alone. I’ll be by your side, and if I ever want to give up being with you, then can’t I ask to be mortal again?” She could do that, she’d be able to ask for him to take the burden away. And she’d actually got him to consider it. She was a little demon. An adorable, innocent, demon. “If I am eaten away like you warned, then that won’t your fault, it'll be mine.”

She had a small idea. “Why don’t you take me to that other friend you have? Maybe they can give some advice on the subject?”

He groaned a little more.“They’ll take my side, and I don’t know why I’m even considering it.”

He was more attached to her than he thought if he was willing to even think about it. “If I make you immortal Shy, I won’t give you any of my powers, I’ll simply make you ageless and invulnerable, that’s as weak an immortal I can do if I keep you a pony.” She nodded her head firmly, causing him to groan a little bit more.

“I’m going to regret this…”

“I talked you into it; I want this. if it bothers you that much then ask your other friends for advice,” Fluttershy moved her hoof to his hand. “I’m not letting you be immortal alone.”

Her smile, it was crushing him. How she could do this to him he didn't know, but it was almost painful. He cared so much for it that it really did hurt. He didn’t want to end up ruining her like he ruined everything else… she might be able to help him with his son, and that insane young girl he took in for some reason.

With a grimace, Discord raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

Family

Author's Note

Q's son will be called Anarchy, and he's going to get attached to Flutters as well. Thankfully, someone in the comments/reviews gave me a smashing idea for how to end this as a series, so hopefully, more to come. Any ideas or advice on how to progress the story are welcome. And, enjoy!
(His name was originally Loki, but someone suggested Anarchy and that fits a bit better)

Family

Regret. It was a kick in the balls that. It crawled up your back, bit at the base of your neck, whispered in your ear and it never let you forget what you did or what you’ve done. Wait, that was the same thing. Damn. Anyway, this, was one of those regrets. He’d done it. He’d actually allowed her to talk him into making her immortal. What could he do? She asked for it, she wanted it, and he wasn’t sure how it was going to go. He could talk to Celestia about it, but then he’d reveal that he’d been playing her for centuries and then he’d have to clean up a crumbling kingdom on top of this. Dammit, why did that damn mare make everything so complicated! And why did he have to enjoy it?

There was somebody he could turn to. Jean-Luc, he could help with this. Hell, Fluttershy even suggested it. Picard knew how to deal with things like this, Discord was never really good with politics despite the fact he was technically rebuilding his own government. He was on break, three thousand years was practically a smoke break to Q, so it wasn’t going to affect them too much. Despite the fact it’d affected him quite a lot. Mortals were the strangest things?

Picard could sort this out, maybe convince her that this was the best course of action. He’d have to explain this to the Continuum, then to his son, wherever the little rugrat had gotten off to. This was going to be such a headache later. He’d have to return to the Continuum at some point, but to do that he’d have to make her a Q, and he couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do that to her. The Continuum wasn’t going to make that mistake again, bringing a mortal into their world. The last time they did that she turned into a monster, he’d never forgive himself if she ended up like that. She was too innocent to end up like that, he needed to protect her.

That regret was humming right against his eardrum now. What was he going to do when the whole universe heard about her? He couldn’t always be by her side, he wouldn’t expose her to the darker side of being a deity, but that’d leave her vulnerable. He could almost smell that Calamarian, it was always trailing him, waiting for him to end up mortal again so it could do whatever to him. He’d made her ageless and physically invulnerable, but she had a fragile heart, and he doubted she’d last very long against a Klingon high on ecstasy. No, not a Klingon, she wouldn’t last long against a Bynar. Why did he have to care so much about her? Damn it was so frustrating.

“Sup!” Speak of the devil and he does appear. “What in the bloody hell is that supposed to be? Looks like a kid ripped apart a toy and their parents tried fixing ‘em by stitching them all into one freak toy!” Discord rolled his eyes at his son’s insult. “Hold on a sec,” he said as he changed his form. He’d pretty much copied Discord’s form but made minor changes.

Discord’s Thestral wing was now a bat wing, his blue pegasus wing was a golden Roc’s wing, his lion arm was a baboon’s arm, his eagle arm was a crocodile arm, his goat leg was a gazelle leg, his lizard leg was a bear leg, his dragon tail was a tiger tail and the brat decided to have one horn instead of two. Little copy and paste there? He had a messier dark brown mane with a few white streaks in it compared to Discord’s very dark grey, and the kid had two little fangs instead of one big one. He wasn’t as big as Discord, about as tall as Garble, so his head reached the middle of Discord’s neck when in the Draconequus form.

“I called it a Draconequus, it’s grown on me if I’m going to be totally fair.” Be nice if he didn’t pop up out of anywhere. Definitely his son alright. Hopefully, he got nothing from his backstabber of a mother. "So tell me how it went with mommy dearest, did she kick you between your legs or did she, eternity forbid, actually try and not be a total nag?” Nag was the equivalent of ‘female dog’ on this little planet. Very Y7 this place, and he didn’t really mind.

“What do you think happened?” That would be the latter then. “I’m gonna guess Amanda came around, seeing as this place isn’t on fire and everyone’s still alive. And you’re still alive.” Discord sighed, pinching the bridge of his snout between his talons. “Ooh, not good?”

“She’s asleep. I’m thinking of erasing all her memories and dumping her here. I’m not letting her back in the Continuum, not with her kill count. I didn’t actually kill-well, ok I killed two but that’s seventy-eight less than her!” And those two were out of self-defense! He was gonna have to try and explain this to the brat first before he tried explaining this to his still rebuilding government. They were gonna have a spatial field day with this. "This place was supposed to change that psychopath, but it ended up changing me…”

“Eh?”

“What does this place look like to you? See any cotton candy clouds, any ballerina bison, any chocolate rain?” His son looked around and didn’t’ see any of it. "Well, I don’t know, I can’t exactly pinpoint why but I somehow got a friend here. Not the kind of friend from the Enterprise or your aunt Kathy, someone who genuinely cares about me and values what I have to say. I care about five people. You, Picard, Data, possibly Amanda… and her.” He growled, hating it, but loving it at the same time. He wasn’t going to bother asking why he wasn’t going to be getting an answer anytime soon. “She convinced me to make her immortal, that’s how deep I’m in.”

“Some actually giving a damn about you? This I gotta see.” Discord rolled his eyes at the brat but couldn’t really fault him for it. He was Discord’s son after all, and he had eternal custody of the brat, so he’d never be able to fully get rid of him. "I’m gonna assume she knows that you’re not a Dracone-whatever.”

“she knows. She knows about you, Screwy, about the war, she made herself immortal because she doesn’t want me to be all alone.” Wow, this girl really did mean a lot if she stuck with him knowing all of that! "They call me Discord here, God of Chaos and Disharmony. You can be my Antichrist, Loki, Anarchy or Tiamat or something.” Did he like the sound of Anarchy? Yeah, he’d keep that. Anarchy, son of Discord, Antichrist of Chaos! Sounded fun. "And no, you can’t bring havoc upon their heads, it’ll ruin the little game I’ve put together.” Anarchy had that face he’d also gotten from his dear old dad. Discord sighed, “Basically I’ve gotten two prissy princesses into believing they raise and lower the sun, and there’re these six rocks of friendship blah blah. I tried going to sleep because I was bored, made them think they turned me to stone. It’s what makes them feel safe. Go running around and those little pebbles don’t work, they’ll become cowardly, and I like it when they think they have the upper hand when really they’re ten steps behind me.” Anarchy had to give his dad that, he was a master manipulator, and it could be very amusing to see what he could do.

“I wanna meet her!” Discord almost feared he’d say that. “is she a princess? A political girl? Nah, you hate politics, ironically. Come on, who is it? What is it?”

“for starters, the names of these creatures are stupid, extremely ridiculous, so stupid they’re practically an insult nickname generator!” Anarchy nodded, wondering how stupid they are. “you’re gonna laugh no matter what I say. So, her name is Fluttershy.” Anarchy did indeed start laughing, much to Discord’s dismay. He felt so old around his brat, he felt old all the time these days. “I’m not kidding, that’s her literal name.” They didn’t have last names for some reason? Then again neither did his kind.

Discord snapped his fingers, appearing not far from the town with his son following him. Discord tried to give a brief explanation of how this place worked, including the strict no swearing. He taught him all the pony equivalent he’d picked up from Lulu and Shy. Fluttershy should be with her friends at Sugarcube Corner, he’d be able to introduce them to Anarchy, and Anarchy would be able to meet the mare who’d fluttered her way into his metaphorical heart. He didn’t go into an unnecessary detail, just about pegasi, unicorns, how he was the reason they had magic as it was now and that Anarchy being there was gonna make their magic a lot stronger.

Anarchy found it strange. His father wasn’t kidding when he said that this place had changed him, he still had his flamboyant somewhat feminine flair, but he didn’t sound as childish as he used to. He sounded older, and whenever he talked about that girl, who he learned was an equine, he sounded very genuine when he said she was kind and sweet. For his dad not to insult someone, like he did when he mentioned every other equine, he really did care about her. For her to be able to do that, she must be beyond incredible. She sounded a bit too good to be true in his eyes. And for his dad to make her an immortal, which he sounded conflicted about, there was definitely something going on.

When they had reached the town, a lot of ponies stared at them. They were apprehensive about discord, but a second Draconequus? The mere thought was terrifying. They way they talked to each other and the little banter they had, and the kind of sympathetic eye rolls showed a father-son relationship, which was even more terrifying. Discord? A parent? The mere thought horrified them!

“you have your own spider web here, nice!” Yes, he manipulated everyone and everything that went on. Not everything, he liked keeping those wed strands loose, so he could rearrange them. Fluttershy was aware of this, she might not agree with it, but it was kinda his job to do this. "A bit technicolored aren’t they?”

“Like diabetes on a greeting card.” He had a very personal vendetta against the greeting card industry. “They’re subconsciously xenophobic, they’ll say otherwise but the princess that lives here made a ‘school of friendship’ because she believed the other countries on this rock didn’t know a thing about friendship. I get why I don’t understand friendship, but, seriously? They’re so high on their high horse they’re literally horses!” Bad joke aside, that was pretty arrogant. "And that’s why I made up the Draconequus because they’re xenophobic. And this place being majorly female, me being male frightens them even more so. You being my son will terrify them.” Anarchy didn’t mind that. Though, they were a little cute.

The ponies looked afraid, he liked them fearing him. Even if they were really cute. The children didn’t fear them, children seldom feared the Q. Well, they rarely were afraid of Discord because of his chaotic personality. Anarchy was trying to be like his dad while trying to be his own individual, at the moment his father had a very high position in the Continuum since he’d torn it down and as helping to rebuild it. Anarchy was supposed to bring a new era to the Continuum, to shed a new light and to help them turn a new chapter. He wasn’t doing so well at the moment.

“So, I can make any joke, any gag?” Discord nodded, snapping his fingers and was dressed up as a smurf of all things. He snorted at the complete ridiculousness of it. best way to describe it was seeing the leader of your country dressed up as a pompom for a day. “You look like a right idiot.” Discord snapped his fingers, and Anarchy was wearing a black monk robe that looked like it’d been sown together with felt trash bags.

“Quiet Gargamiss.” Anarchy snapped his fingers and the outfits were gone. “I’ll go in first, set it up because no way will they believe me, except for Shy, then you do your grand entrance!” Discord grinned, walking into the cakeshop. There they were. Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Shy. Oh, and Spike, but nobody remembered him. “Hello Everypony!” all but Shy, and possibly Spike, looked to him with dismay. “I have a very special somebody I have to introduce you with!” Discord stood out of the way of the door, winking at Shy. His tail made a whipping sound, the cue for Q to come in. that was a terrible play on the word sounds, but he found it amusing.

Anarchy jumped in, doing that basketball gag that Discord had already done. He didn’t say anything about it, just cringed inwardly since he’s already done that. He did the possible hundredth eye roll since Anarchy popped in, at this point his eyes must look like they’re from a casino or something. The mares were all dead silent. Fluttershy smiled, understanding who the new Draconequus was and walked towards the younger deity. Her friends protested, but Fluttershy wasn’t afraid, Discord would keep his son from doing anything too much, and as she was immortal at the moment, she didn’t see what she had to fear from the young boy.

“You must be that mare dad’s been goin’ on about. Call me Anarchy!” Anarchy said, holding his baboon arm out and shaking it with the hoof. It was weird doing a hand/hood shake, but his dad must’ve done it, so it couldn’t be all that bad. Discord was still cringing inwardly but was pleased to see his son behaving. For once. “Hey, is that what they do here? Say ‘Everypony’ and Anypony’?” Discord nodded.“damn, they are xenophobic, aren’t they?”

“Who in the hay are ya?” That would be the farmer dad mentioned. Anarchy pulled an apple off her flank and ate it, loving the anger in her eyes. "Give that back ya varmint!” Discord watched as Anarchy as he pulled another one off her flank, dipped it in her hat and it was suddenly caramelized. Couldn’t lie, his boy had his creativity, something his mother severely lacked. At this point, Discord believed that excuse of an ex didn’t do anything but give an empty pattern and he’d done all the work! Seeing as he had sole custody, that wouldn’t really be all that bad.

Discord snapped his fingers, fixing Applejack’s Cutie Mark. The mares were afraid, all of them but Fluttershy whom had just walked over and shook with his son. That was a good thing, if his son and her didn’t get along, which was unlikely, then it’d put more strain on him than before. He already regretted making her immortal, he liked her timidness, he didn’t want to ruin that. The butter yellow mare had very genuine eyes, which Anarchy liked, she was extremely adorable as well. Like, it wasn’t even fair how cute she was.

“Anarchy? I think that’s a good name for you to have picked,” Fluttershy complimented. She looked to Discord, a smile on her muzzle. “You have a wonderful son.” His cheeks heated up a little at the compliment, something Anarchy hadn’t seen before. Just how deep was his dad in with this little yellow pony? Hell, even his cheeks were slightly warmed. Normally people just called him a menace, it was a nice change to be complimented instead of insulted. She was a keeper. "Oh, girls, this is Discord’s son. he told me about him a couple days ago. I didn’t know whether or not I should say without Discord permission, but, here he is. Anarchy, this is Twilight Sparkle, you’ve met Applejack, that’s Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and the dragon is Spike.” She was sure Discord had already mentioned them, but probably with horrible nicknames.

Rainbow Dash flew right up to Anarchy’s face, worrying the butter yellow pegasus. Discord was older, he was more mature and had a lot more patience than his son likely had. Anarchy didn’t like the gaypride flag flying into his face, so he blew on her, and she was rocketed away. She would’ve ended up inside a wall if Discord didn’t take Pinkie Pie’s mane and use it as a cushion. The surprised pegasus dropped to the floor, and Discord put the mane back. He slapped Anarchy over the head with his tale, giving him a stern look.

“Discord!” Twilight shouted with anger, which Discord knew was just being used to hide her fear. “When were you going to tell us you had a son? What’re we supposed to do if not only you but the BOTH of you lose control? The Elements of Harmony aren’t going to work against the two of you!” Discord faked being concerned by that, Anarchy watched, then imitated him. It was a little awkward for Fluttershy as she too had to pretend to be worried, it was a little sad that those useless rocks were all that the Ponies of Equestria had to make them feel like they had any control over the deity. Now deities. “And you Fluttershy, don’t you think this would’ve been useful information to have?” Discord knew what was going on. Paranoia. fear induced paranoia was extremely toxic. Fluttershy may be immortal now, but she wasn’t a confrontational pony, she didn’t enjoy seeing others hurt, and was willing to be used as a doormat if it helped others. Discord flashed between her and Fluttershy, his face as blank as he can make it.

“Fluttershy didn’t tell you because I only recently told her about Anarchy, I trusted her, and I’m very pleased that she kept it between us. You all hate me, I know you do, I can see the fear in your eyes sparky, and what was I supposed to do?” In reality, he’d forgotten to mention it, but his gradually growing paternal side was starting to take over. "If I told you lot about Anarchy, you would’ve tried to turn him against me. You’ve tried that with Fluttershy many times, you even tried using a brainwashing spell on me, how was I supposed to know you wouldn’t do that to him? Simply put, Twily, I don’t trust you. I’m not going to let you take out your fear on Shy, and I won’t let you bully Anarchy the way I allow you to bully me.” His front limbs were crossed, and his voice was that belonging not only to a father but to a leader. He’d secretly been practicing it so the other Q would take him seriously.

This one eighty to what they were used to shut them up, and it surprised Anarchy as well. Fluttershy put a hoof on Discord’s side, feeling him relax a little. She understood he was a little conflicted after he made her immortal after she practically begged for it. She’d grown to respect him in a lot of ways. In a strange way, Discord was a kind of chaotic hero, bringing much-needed change to a stagnant ordered world that was his home. He possibly saved it from the ever-swallowing nothingness. He wasn’t lying either. They insulted him, they were supposed to teach him friendship but all they taught him was the cold shoulder, bullying might be a little exaggerative, but it was Discord and he was being emotional. He was also protecting his only friend and dealing with a possible threat towards his child.

“Discord, take a breather,” Fluttershy suggested, the Draconequus flashing beside his son, taking her advice. "I know this is very surprising, but we shouldn’t let our fears cloud our judgment. Anarchy’s never met us before, probably hasn’t even seen Equestria before, what examples are we setting for ponykind? What’ll he tell other Draconeqi when he leaves? That ponies are fearful paranoid savages?” What insanity was this? Fluttershy, the mare scared of her own shadow, talking about not letting fear cloud judgment? “I’m sorry for their actions Anarchy, they’re normally a lot nicer than this. Your father and them don’t have a very… stable relationship.”

“Hey, even my dad can admit he’s hard to get along with. Still, I haven’t seen him like that before, I can see why he likes you so much.” He wasn’t kidding about that. Discord was starting to become a different person in Anarchy’s eyes, and he didn’t know how to feel about it. Discord wasn’t exactly a good parent, he wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t really father material. Still, he was the only parent at the moment, so he didn’t really have anyone to talk to about him. Fluttershy had a lot of power over his dad, she had a very sweet voice that wasn’t demanding, but it was suggestive. He liked her. seeing as the only other female in his life, excluding Janeway, was his douche of a mom, he had little options when it came to likable females.

The mares all cooled down. Pinkie Pie thought it was cool, but she kept quiet, which wasn’t very easy for her. She’d felt a little afraid, and she felt slightly ashamed at that. Rarity was disturbed that there were more of the mismatched creatures, her dressmaking mind sometimes went inside trying to imagine a suit for Discord, and she couldn’t handle thinking of other Draconeqi. Rainbow Dash was angry. Discord, the biggest pain in her flank, a father? She was never convinced he’d turned good, especially after the Tirek incident, and the idea that he’d procreated made her feel sick. Anarchy had just blown her away, Discord having to save her a broken wing or very badly bruised back. It angered her in a way, to know there was two of them now. Applejack wasn’t happy that Anarchy had stolen two apples off her Cutie Marks, but she knew what young’uns were like, and even though she wasn’t exactly a fan of him, it appeared that Discord had Anarchy under control, and that was good enough for her at the moment.

Twilight was enraged. She knew something bigger was going on, something she wanted to find out. Discord had a son, that meant there was more of them, and as Anarchy demonstrated, they were just as powerful. Equestria could barely handle one Draconequus, let alone two, or however many there were. From what she’d seen with Discord, Draconeqi were opposite to ponies, chaotic creatures compared to their harmony. He’d kept this from her, he’d thrown in her face that embarrassing moment in her life when she thought ‘reforming’ him was better than actually trying. She hated that he was right about them being hostile towards him, hated that he’d told Fluttershy about this, and likely a lot more. What did Fluttershy know? Did she know the secret to Discord’s power? Know his weakness? She and him had a strange bond, and judging by Anarchy’s reaction to her, she’s changed Discord somehow. Or, he’d done something to her. Fluttershy, talking about not letting fear overcome them? No, he’d done something to her, he had to. It was just like Discord to wrap them all around his little finger, only for him to flick them onto the wall like a booger.

“I’m sorry for this Discord,” Fluttershy apologized, the deity waving an eagle claw, it appeared to be dismissive, but she knew otherwise. “So, Anarchy, what do you think of Equestria at the moment? I know our world is really small, but our magic must be interesting, I doubt other worlds have what we have.” Twilight snapped to attention, listening to the pegasus. Other Worlds? Had Discord taken her to other worlds? It’d always been theorized that Equestria was one of many worlds, there was even an insane theory that Celestia and Luna didn’t raise the sun and moon and that all the stars had their own worlds. Twilight, like many, believed it to be hogwash. Though since this was Discord’s species, there was a chance that it was true. “Unless many worlds have our magic?”

“Not really, most races just have psychic or empathic powers, I don’t really see magic stuff. Though it is my dad’s fault that it’s so strong here. When he eventually leaves, a lot of this magic is gonna leave with him. The fact it’s here anyway is pretty interesting though.” A lump formed in Twilight’s throat. Discord being there made their magic stronger, Anarchy also being here probably made their magic even stronger than it was now. But, he’d hinted Discord leaving one day, and taking their magic with him. Equestria wouldn’t be able to survive without magic, they actually needed Discord, and that angered her a little more. "Hey dad, do they really control their own weather?”

“Yeah, they make rainbows too. For a while I thought they were made out of ground up pegasi foals who failed flight school,” he shrugged. Rainbow grounded her teeth at the mere idea of that, but she didn’t say anything, fear locking her in place. “What’s your opinion on these little equine then? They’re an extremely young, childish, primitive race, but they’re very amusing.” He got many glares for that, and he didn’t care. Discord then remembered that Spike was there. It was a little sad how he was treated, even the author forgot he was there. “And what do you think of Anarchy here.”

“The moment I saw the basketball gag I knew he was yours, probably explains why you don’t believe in love. Your girlfriend a backstabber?” How right that was really made Discord almost give a damn about the dragon. "Judging by your face, I’ll take that as a yep. So, you’re a single father deity, that explains a lot more than you probably think.”

“Can I keep the dragon?” Anarchy asked, disappeared then reappearing next to the dragon. “You telling me he actually did the basketball thing?” Discord glared at Anarchy trying his hardest to keep the laughter in. “Wow, you actually did that? Do you have no dignity?”

“My dignity died when you were born,” Discord replied casually. “I probably should’ve thought this through better. I can add this to the regret pile that’s continuing to grow…” he felt awkward now. “Shy?” he just needed to give a look for her to know what he wanted to do. She nodded, he snapped his fingers, then him, her and Anarchy were suddenly in her cottage. “That could’ve gone better.”

“You mean to say it couldn’t have gone worse?”

“I’m supposed to be the pessimist here.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, growling. Why? Why did he bother himself by showing Anarchy to those inferior fools? He felt like such an idiot. He sat down on the couch, glaring at Angel who was woken up by them teleporting into the cottage. “Make a sound and I’m getting the Holy Hand Grenade.” His tone kept the evil rabbit quiet, Fluttershy taking in a deep breath and sighing.

Discord didn’t always think ahead, something she’d grown used to. He seemed to jump into decisions that often bit him in the tail. She was happy she got to meet Anarchy, and she was likely right in assuming that Anarchy just came out of nowhere and he wanted to introduce her to him before Anarchy went off somewhere. He probably felt like he’d embarrassed himself, which she sympathized with.

“Thank you for letting me meet Anarchy,” Fluttershy sighed as she went over to sit next to him “I’m sorry I’ve caused such conflict in you at the moment, I think that it’s really hard. I don’t know how hard it is, so I can’t fully empathize with you, but I can still be here to help. And, thank you for standing up for me when they got scared…” he sighed, the tone was his own way of saying thank you. “Anarchy, please be a dear and get some tea.” What was he, a maid? Discord gave him a glare, and in the kitchen, he went.

“I embarrassed myself, why I did that I don’t know, I’m making a lot of mistakes lately…” he was going to go to the Enterprise, he needed someone with more experience with this kinda stuff to help him. Picard wouldn’t like it, but he wouldn’t turn anyone way when they need help. Discord owed him one, and what diplomat wouldn't want a hand in dealing with immortal problems? The whole thing with Vash wasn’t enough to repay him for keeping him on the Enterprise when the Calamarian was trying to kill him. He’d even go to Guinan if it meant getting good advice. Since she was a parent, he might have to. “Shy, I feel like I’m making a massive mistake. Or that I've made the mistake already.”

The pegasus rubbed his back with a hoof, understanding his struggles. Discord didn’t do very well with his emotions, he was struggling against all of this. He was the only parent, his son was just like him, his people were just coming out of a war, he was helping to rebuild his government, his partner wanted nothing to do with their son, so he was the first single parent and he was also dealing with her. If he was mortal, then maybe he could just sleep this off, but he wasn’t.

“Then it would be my mistake to make. It’s good to make mistakes Discord, it means you’re capable of growing.” She sounded like a mother. In a way she was, seeing as she was the most assertive of her family and she had to mother her brother. “You’re dealing with a lot of stress at the moment, I understand that, and I understand you need a break. We have all the time in the world for that, and I’ll be there to support you. I’ll even help you with Anarchy if you want me to.”

“You’re too kind for your own good Shy…”

“Let me guess, semantics?”

“Yep.” She giggled, not really sure why, but she giggled.

Anarchy watched them, and despite the fact he was chronologically younger than them, he was still a Q. He doubted his dad could see it, but he could. His dad cared about that pegasus a lot more than he was admitting or realizing. If Anarchy didn’t know any better, which his father would claim he wouldn’t, his father loved that pegasus. She was so kind, she was a magnet for souls like them. His dad even said she’d given up mortality for him, which was a big deal. Was that possible? Discord to not only be the first parent but to be the first to love outside of their species? To love at all for that matter. Not the familial love, but the deep emotional connection these two obviously had? God of Chaos was beyond fitting for him in Anarchy’s opinion. And it made him feel better about his own emotions seeing his dad so much more vulnerable than before… just how magical was this little pegasus?

Enterprisal Advice

Author's Note

(Loki's name has been changed to Anarchy for those who don't know)
I probably botched this up somehow, let me know any mistakes you find, it'll be a massive help for the future!

Hope you're enjoying it so far, didn't expect this to turn into a series :D

Enterprisal Advice

Fluttershy had stated she wanted to meet the people that Discord had mentioned to her. He wanted to talk to Picard anyways, possibly even Guinan, so he might as well. Fluttershy would be sure to make many friends, though Discord was going to have a lot of irritation towards Worf. Not the pea-brained, fanny-headed moron's fault. His evil ex just happened to be very manipulative. So, he was going to treat Shy by letting her meet everybody. He might even let her meet Janeway, the woman who helped him win against the opposing side in the war. Now that he thought about it, it may be six people he cared about. Janeway had kinda grown on him. He likely ignored her because he wasn’t very good when it came to females.

Anarchy hadn’t really met Picard yet, had he? He’d talked about the man enough for Anarchy to want to meet him, not that he did without his father, which was a good thing. To make sure the timeline didn’t get muddled, he was making a pocket timeline that’d disappear when he’d left, so it’d be as if nothing ever happened. Which meant that anything he said or did wouldn’t affect them in any way, only they three would remember it.

The pegasus was trotting around her house, getting ready. He’d said that she didn’t need to get anything he couldn’t give her, but Shy didn’t want him to waste his powers on her. She was so selfless it was infectious. She still confused him, she confused Anarchy as well, the two of them unsure how Fluttershy could be so sweet in a universe so harsh. He was sounding sappy again, ugh, he hated it when he sounded all sappy and gooey.

“Dissy?” Fluttershy called, the deity giving a sound of acknowledgment. “Will I need to be in a humanoid form like the one you have? Won’t I scare them?” he was in his human form, along with Anarchy. While Anarchy believed that Fluttershy couldn’t scare a butterfly Discord was aware of her stare that Anarchy hadn’t been subjected to yet. He was looking forward to seeing that.

“Shy, you’ll be fine. They’ll be irritated to see me, confused about Anarchy, but they’re good people. Not as paranoid as your pony ‘friends’.” She was a little embarrassed about that, she hadn’t talked to her friends about it since, they were trying to pretend that it had never happened. She was pleased that Discord was possibly growing on Spike along with Big Mac, but he’d clearly had relationships like that for a long time, never getting any further than acknowledgment. She understood why, and she understood she’d have to do the same thing someday… especially with the choice she made and encouraged Discord to make. “You really don’t need to take anything.”

“But I want to.” She had packed snacks, a book, and a blank sketchbook encase she wanted to do some sketches. She was trying to pick up the hobby after seeing all the creativeness that Discord surrounded her with. She had her saddlebags on, tied on tight in case she dropped anything. She did a double check to make sure she was prepared, then gave the two a smile. “I’m ready!”

“Can I get back at Guinan for forking you?” Discord gave a glare that meant a simple no, much to Anarchy’s displeasure. “You’ve told her about the Calamarian thing, haven’t you?” Discord’s expression changed to something that clearly meant he hadn’t. Fluttershy could tell it was something that bothered Discord, but she’d ask about it later, she didn’t want to ruin the mood by pushing him into something he didn’t like. She’d do that later, as he normally needed help facing his feelings. Running from your fears only made them stronger, and more destructive.

“maybe later Anarchy, not now.” He snapped his fingers, and they were in space. Fluttershy didn’t recognize the stars, all of them seemed brand new to her, even though she’d been taught otherwise. Discord told her about light, how stars were made and that even though she could see their light, some of those stars died long ago. That was a magical thing that. A star could die, but its light continued to pass through space, a living memory. When he eventually left Equestria would her memory remain like the light of a star? To think the death of something like a star could be so beautiful? And he hadn’t even shown her a supernova yet. “In about a minute, the Enterprise will come out of warp here. Despite what it looks like, all of it was handmade. Or hoof. Semantics.”

Like he said, the ship appeared, its shape surprising her. Did someone make that with their hooves? Hands? Whichever? She could barely believe that someone could make it without magic, her curious face actually making Discord smile a bit. Something Anarchy noticed and added to his mental ‘Definitely more than friends’ list.

“Are you sure they won’t mind me being a pegasus?” Nah, they’d be fine. If they let Worf on the bridge they’d let a pony. Discord grinned as he snapped his fingers, appearing on top of the ship, not yet inside of it. “Oh, it’s made of metal?” They were only just starting to use metals back home. “Do you think that Ponies will be able to make something like this?”

“Maybe? As long as you lot rely on that magic, probably not.” A bit blunt from Anarchy, but true. They relied far too much on that anomaly that was magic. Discord would fix it later, he didn’t need to at the moment though. “Hey dad, can I get back at the lady who forked you?” Discord shook his head, not even going to bother wondering why Anarchy would ask again, disappointing said Anarchy. Discord wanted a chat with her when it came to being a parent, he might seem like he was doing alright, but he really wasn’t and was quite bad at it. Anarchy lived up to that name. He was causing mayhem, and Discord wondered if the rest of the Continuum felt exhausted after having to deal with him. Given how alike he and Anarchy are, that was probably what was going on. He felt sorry for the Q that had to deal with him when he was like this now.

Discord snapped his fingers, and Fluttershy was suddenly on the bridge. She would meet them first, then they’d pop in, but he wanted to make sure that they were alright with her first. They were surprised, as was his pegasus. Wait, ‘his’ pegasus? Since when did he refer to her as his? Questions for later.

Fluttershy would have preferred if Discord gave her a warning first, but as per usual, he jumped into things without thinking about them. He did think about them somewhat, but in the heat of the moment, he could make silly choices. The mare looked around, feeling very small. She noted that Discord’s human form was rather tall compared to a lot of the other humans here, he likely chose the largest size, so he’d be taken a little more seriously, like with his Equestria form. The one sitting in the middle of a man and a woman was likely Pee-card, the man Discord wanted a talk with. She looked around, looking for the man with yellow eyes, spotting him behind her. That would be Data, the artificial human, the ‘android’ as Discord called him.

“Is it just me, or is there a pegasus in front of me?” She looked at the man next to Picard, who looked very confused. She didn’t want them to be afraid of her, so she gave a warming smile. She was a little afraid, not really used to being the only quadruped in a room. Humans didn’t have as many differences as ponies, but they did have very unique faces, which was very different to ponies whom the majority of which had the same muzzle, head, shape, and ears. They were very strange to her, but she wasn’t going to judge. Anarchy looked like Discord in his human form, then again, maybe it was because they were related?

“I can sense a little fear, hesitation, anticipation, and recognition. Whatever she is, she’s sapient.” The woman had a strange accent, and she smelled a little differently to the humans. Discord did say most of them looked like his humanoid form, so was she an alien? The stranger on the raised level behind them must be the Klingon Discord had a personal grudge again. His face frightened her a little, but she made herself look as brave as she could and failed. “And she’s adorable.”

“My name is Fluttershy,” she said, which seemed to surprise the humans. “Sorry for the rude entrance, Discord isn’t too good when it comes to introducing people.” Her wings ruffled a little, wondering where Discord and Anarchy were. “You’re Picard, right?” She said to the man in the middle, who slowly nodded in confusion. “Oh, then you’re the Captain of this… uhh, what did Discord call it? Enterprise?” That didn’t sound like a ship. “sorry, I haven’t really been out in space before. Well, that’s not true, I’ve seen my planet but I haven’t been on a… Oh! Spaceship! I haven’t been on a spaceship before.” She inwardly applauded her ability to remember the name.

“Well, umm, it’s nice to meet you, Fluttershy,” said the befuddled human. “Welcome aboard the USS Enterprise.” Pegasi were aliens, why wasn’t he surprised by that? “So, how’d you get on the Enterprise if you don’t have a spaceship.” A cackled echoed in the bridge, one that sent shivers up his spine that twisted his face into a grimace.

Likely on cue, Discord magically appeared. He was laying on the half floor half stairs, the carpeted ramp thing, resting against a poor excuse for a banner in the mare’s opinion. It looked like a health hazard not having proper railings, someone could get hurt. Discord grinned while Picard just had the face of ‘here we go again’. Fluttershy now got what Discord had meant around three weeks ago when he said that they tolerated him more than befriended him.

“What do you want now Q?” Said the man who’d been sitting next to Picard. Fluttershy didn’t know who this man was, but he was about the same height as Discord’s human form. He sounded hostile, everyone but the android looked to Discord with that same hostility and passive aggressiveness her friends gave him. The more Fluttershy got to know about people who knew Discord before he’d come to Equestria, the more she began to understand how powerful her honesty and kindness was, and how much she really did mean to Discord. She meant more to him than she may ever fully comprehend, and it made her choice to become immortal all the more right in her eyes.

“Oh don’t give me that Billy Beard, for once I’m not here for a game. Though, I can surely make this a game if you’d like?” He said with a smile. “How about a game of Discourse and Anarchy?” there was another flash, and Anarchy was on the other side, mirroring Discord’s grin. Thick as thieves they were.

The sudden appearance of the other Q made them very on edge. Q was hard enough to deal with on his own, but two of them? they couldn’t handle two of them at once. Fluttershy looked at the nervousness in their eyes and felt it from their vibes, not wanting a repeat of when Discord introduced Anarchy to her friends, she shot him a look. It wasn’t the glare, he hadn’t done anything to deserve that, but he got the message. He snapped his fingers and was beside her, Anarchy being stubborn and not moving. She hardened her look, and the boy stubbornly appeared next to his dad with a grumpy face.

Now things had changed. How could this little pegasus make Q and the other Q listen to her with just a look? Was she a Q herself? She didn’t seem like it, but she definitely had some kind of power over those two, which meant three things. Either she was a higher positioned Q, she was someone the two Q valued, or she had figured out a way to make them stay in line. Back when they were thrown to the Borg, Q had shown what could possibly be fear when faced with Guinan, so it could be possible?

“How’d you do that?” Worf asked the little pegasus. “We’ve thrown all insults we can, I’ve threatened to throw the beast out the airlock, but nothing works. You just look at him, them, and they do as you say.” She pulled that adorable innocent face that Discord would always love.

“Not at all,” Fluttershy said, her voice as sweet as honey “Discord’s my best friend, he can choose to listen to me or not.” She wasn’t too sure about Anarchy, but she was sure he’d be alright. “If you keep showing up like that then people aren’t going to want to be your friend, they’re going to be hostile to you.” She knew why Discord didn’t like Worf, though it was more a personal grudge because of his ex “You can call them Discord and Anarchy, it’s a little easier than calling them both a letter and Discord’s used to his name at the moment.” Discord snapped his fingers, he and Picard gone. “Oh, I wish he’d ask before he did that.” Anarchy snorted, getting a firm look from the mare.

Discord wanted to talk to the Captain alone, Fluttershy would be able to keep Anarchy under control for a few minutes, he was sure of that. He’d teleported them to the observation lounge, or meeting room, one of the two. He was sitting how he did when he appeared to collect Amanda, back when she was still sane. A shame that. She could’ve been so useful, so, well, so not a murdering lunatic. The deity looked over to the irritated looking captain, who was likely thinking about the other Q who’d been with Discord. He wanted to have a little bit of fun, but he was struggling to find that same spark he’d had back then. Damn, he liked those games. They were from his old self before he was being drowned with responsibilities.

“Before you say anything, I’m from three thousand years in the future, so I’m not the same Q that enjoyed those games. Tried to get the spark going, that failed, like everything else in my so-called life.”

He sounded so old, then again, he was old. Kind of. Q didn’t age like mortals. Chronological aging meant squat to them, their age was based on their maturity. If he had the maturity of a child, he was a child, if he had the maturity of an adult, he was an adult. There were older generations and younger generations, but as he’d said, chronological age meant nothing. There were a few from the younger generation that had the maturity of fifty-year-olds… while he had the maturity of someone in their earlier twenties or almost twenty.… while he had the maturity of someone in their earlier twenties or almost twenty. When he met Picard the first time he’d practically been a teenager like Anarchy, sixteen or seventeen, he was in between the two. Responsibilities sucked.

“Why are you here?”

Many reasons. He needed advice from someone who could help him. It might not even be helpful, just hearing someone attempt to help him would make him feel a little better. How desperate must he be to lower himself to talking with Picard about this sort of thing? And why was he complaining about that? he’d spent a very long time lowering his standards to fit with the technicoloured equine. That lowering of standards extremely irked him. His vocabulary sounded sloppy because most of the words he used didn’t make a lot of sense to the primitive creatures. His games also had to be toned down for their childish minds. He’d snuffed out his own spark, his flair for his enjoyment. All for them and their sake. What a pain.

“Do I need a reason?” he’d already done that opening bit hadn’t he? damn. “I need advice.” Was he that blunt these days? He used to beat around the bush, play cat and mouse with his words, it was a little disturbing? He’d have to start playing his games again, he didn’t want to fall too far from his preferred perch.

“You? Asking me for advice?” This was a dream. No, scratch that, this was a nightmare. What could Q possibly get from him? Or Discord, or whatever he was calling himself. He looked oddly tired and worn out. He looked exhausted, drained like he’d gone to a pub and was feeling the side effects of real alcohol. “what’ve you done this time? If you’re getting kicked out of the Continuum again you’re not coming here, I’m not risking my crew to save your backside.”

“They wouldn’t do that, not at the moment anyway. Though, they’re probably wishing they never took me back and are thankful they did.” They regretted taking him back because of how badly he’d screwed it over and were thankful he’d screwed it over. He had no idea just how many laws they had? Some of them were ridiculous! What did they have against pears? Why was there a thing against pears? Some of them weren’t enforced anymore, but they were still there. Making you question the mental state of the tool who made them. “Guess what I’ve done to merit needing your advice? If you guess, I’ll do us all a happy favour and get rid of Riker’s beard.”

“I sometimes pity the other Q who have to deal with you.” Given how alike he and Anarchy were, Discord couldn’t argue with that. In fact, he too pitied the Q who had to bother with him before he got scolded. Anarchy got scolded as well, for longer, and he was still a total brat. “I’m not going to be playing any games with you Q, every time you show up here I have to deal with one misery or another! Every person you decide to hang around gets hurt or killed. A magnet for trouble and you find that trouble amusing because you’re too powerful to care.” That was one of the things he was concerned about. Fluttershy didn’t know the dangers of space, didn’t know how many enemies he had. There were a few Q in the Continuum who’d love to get her just to hurt him, his ex for example. Or Amanda.

“I want to play games, I’ve lost my spark for them at the moment. And, this isn’t exactly something I should be playing around with, given what effects it’s going to have.” Something he had to be serious about. Oh, the horror. He didn’t want to stay in Equestria any longer, it was really starting to get him down. If he left he’d have to reveal that most of what they know was all woven together by him, they didn’t even know what their sun really looked like. He’d have to undo the immortality on the alicorns, which would make them vulnerable to other countries. Wow, he’d really screwed them, hadn’t he? “I’ve already said I’m from the future, and, things have happened that I don’t know how to deal with.”

“What could possibly have happened to make you come three thousand years in the past?” He should be enjoying this, having this pain in the rear crawling to him for help. But that begged the question, what was it that made Q want his help? What had really happened that pushed this arrogant self-centered clown into asking for advice?

“War.” That wasn’t the answer he was looking for. A war? A war between what? “A Civil War to be exact. We haven’t had a war before, and a lot of us are still feeling the after-effects of it.” When he was stressed enough his left arm would tingle slightly, and he sometimes randomly had flashbacks to certain events he’d never be able to forget. “Some of us are the equivalent to amputees, I have a gunshot scar on my arm, and a lot of Q are dead.” He still had one of those divine level weapons in his house. Well, the weird cottage he’d made inside of that freaky dimension he stuffed all of his NSFW ideas into. “And, I’m currently in the position of rebuilding our shattered government. Three thousand years is practically a smoke break to us, so I’m still sort of in the meeting on what we should do now that we’ve won?” Time was very difficult to explain, seeing as he was timeless. He was on a five-minute break, which as roughly five thousand years to mortals. When Q said something was millennia old when it came from something that was affecting them in their world, it was a bloody long time.

“You, the Q had a war?” This had to be a nightmare. They wouldn’t go to war with each other. What reason did the so-called ‘perfect godly beings’ need to go to war? Q played a bigger part than he was letting on, he could see it. He wasn’t the kind of man to go rushing into something, no, he was the kind to scheme deep in the shadows. Or the one he thought he knew did. this Q was different to the one he normally dealt with, judging by how he sat and talked. “What for? What possibly drove the Q into a Civil War?”

“Freedom.” He was free to have friends, to choose how he lived his life, to be who he wanted to be and to make his own mistakes. Which he was making a lot of lately. “To shorten the story, a Q was inspired by my rebellious nature and how I played with you mortals, how different and free I was compared to everyone else who’re more like drones than individuals. He wanted to die because he believed it was in his right. Which it was. I was sent to stop him, after the Calamarian thing I straightened myself out a bit, and he was disappointed that I’d changed. He got his wish, I let him end his own life, and he re-inspired me. I called for change, people who followed his teachings rallying behind me, and that small voice grew into a roar. And the other side happened to roar just as loudly.”

“You started a civil war with your own kind?”

“I started a war, and I won. I won by making the first child in ten millennia, and that’s in our time, completely unfathomable to mortals.” Yes, this was definitely a nightmare. Q was a parent, the boy likely being his son. If this was real, then this was actually very serious. Q was asking help in rebuilding a government that was for what were essentially gods, a pantheon. He’d started a war calling for individualism, and he’d won by having a child. He didn’t know how you could win a war by having a child, but it wasn’t a conventional war. “I don’t know the first thing about building a government. I can tear one apart, but I’m not so good at putting one together.”

He’d created the Equestrian government, but that was because he’d lied to Celestia and Luna all their lives. When he got the balls to tell them, that would be another government collapse caused by his hands. His special talent should be destroying governments! He wondered what that would look like? Maybe a courthouse on fire? Probably.

“You’re asking a lot of me.” He was. He was asking a lot from the man he’d tormented for no reason other than his personal gratification. Well, he was also putting humanity on trial, but that was mostly just another game of his. “You’re asking advice to help with something that I don’t have the experience or the knowledge to help with.” He didn’t really intend for it to turn into a blood fest, it was the other side that started making the weapons anyway, so he wasn’t totally in the blame here. They chose to make it a proper war instead of something civil. “I’m a well-known diplomat, I’ve helped a lot of planets that’re in need of help, but something as massive as this? Your people are as close to deities as you can get, you’re asking a mortal to help build a pantheon!”

“In a way, yes I am,” he sighed. “We’ve never had a war before, it’s been well before my generation since there’s been a procreated child, we haven’t been pushed to the brink then have to rebuild ourselves. None of us are really sure what we’re doing, we’re currently trying to update laws and that’s going terribly. I’m not a responsible person, I can admit that I’m way out of my element here. I cause chaos that encourages a new look on order, things like law and rules aren’t my forte.” He used to live by the mindset that rules were for breaking, now he had to actually make rules he wasn’t allowed to break.

“How am I supposed to help? What advice could I possibly give you on something like this!” Discord bit his lip, not really able to answer him. “Do none of you know what to do? Any of you, at all?”

“The only one who could is dead. So, no, none of us have a clue where to go from here. They’re all looking to me for guidance! I’m not someone that should be on that kind of pedestal!” He started to pace, pinching the bridge of his nose, getting more and more frustrated. “I break things, I don’t fix them! I make a mess, and someone else cleans it up!” His son was supposed to shed a new light, but he wasn’t doing very well at that. They needed something completely new, someone, who could help them through this transition into the more modern era. Help turn the page to the new chapter. “I can’t lead them, I’m not the right person for it, but they’re still looking to me. I did inspire someone, I did call for change, I did manage to get that change, but I also caused a lot of people to die. I pushed my own people, who’re a possibly ironically passive race, into creating weapons that caused supernovas from the recoil of said weapons! I caused chaos and anarchy, that isn’t leader material.”

“No, it isn’t, but it’s apparently what they needed to change in the first place.” Q actually needed his help, not just him but the Continuum. Possibly. He’d have to be careful with what he said because it’d have consequences that’d affect all of time afterwards. “The Q needed someone like you to bring change, and they’re going to be looking to you on how to improve themselves. No, you’re not the right person for this, and that’s possibly why you’re the one who’s needed.” That didn’t make sense. “Let me rephrase that. From what I’m getting, the Q looked to you because of how different you were, and how you inspired them to be different. That’s what they’re still looking for. That different view, the different opinion, and the voice that became a roar.”

“I’m not exactly the voice, more the echo.”

“You started inspired the voice and carried the echo.” True. “Just, I’d say be you but then you’d just destroy anything you managed to make.” He’d be mad if that wasn’t half right. He finally stopped pacing and sat down, rubbing his eyes. He wanted advice, he wanted to talk to this man, and he was getting what he wanted. “Keep doing what you’re doing at the moment, and don’t try to do it all on your own, get others to help you. You’re far from leader material, but, that could mean that you could mould into what they need.”

“Maybe?” That wasn’t all bad. “I’m going to ask Guinan how to deal with a child, my son is a lot like me when I first met you, I feel so sorry for the Q back then. I had no idea what a turd I was until I got my own brat.”

“You’re far more than just that you know, vous êtes une douleur dans le cul.” He rolled his eyes, smirking a little. “I’m surprised, I was expecting you to just joke around and be a turd as you put it. You’re actually taking this seriously, which is a massive step in the right direction. I’m almost proud of the change you’ve made.” He was as well.

“You can blame that on that little pegasus.” He hoped she was doing ok and hoped that nothing had happened to her. She was an adorable sweet little thing, anything could happen to her. “And, that’s the other thing I need help with…” this was a mortal thing. If Picard couldn’t help with this he’d ask Janeway how to deal with the mare. Kathy would likely have better advice, being a female and all. “She’s wormed her way int my non-existent heart, she convinced me to make her immortal, so she could spend all her time with me. Threw her whole life away just because she wanted to be with me.” He looked at his hands, taking a deep breath and sighing, despite the fact he couldn’t breathe. You needed lungs for that, and he was lungless. Lungless, that sounded like a foreign soup? Odd. “I don’t want her to be immortal, but she’s very firm about it, I even told her I’d started a war and that I’m definitely no saint, but nope, she still wants to stay with me.”

“I’d say she liked you, but then I remembered who I was talking to.” Discord scowled a couple moments but didn’t comment on that statement.

“She does, and I don’t deserve any of it. I’ve spent three thousand years on her world, I’ve shaped their history, I’ve caused magic to accumulate there and now they aren’t going to be able to survive when I leave and take it with me! I’ve manipulated their entire government, and I’ve manipulated their rulers into believing they control celestial bodies. They’ve never seen their actual night sky, they just see darkness with pretty lights. First time I met her, I took her wings away, and I switched her personality just for my own enjoyment… I even stabbed them all in the back by handing them all over to an energy eating centaur.” That was a very weird weekend. Tirek hadn’t actually eaten Discord’s energy. If he had, the Discord wouldn’t be here, seeing as he was literally made of energy. The idiot believed he took Discord’s magic, but he didn’t even see the surface of Discord’s power. If Tirek actually took Discord’s power, then everyone would be in serious trouble. “She forgave me. She was still kind, and she’s sacrificing more than she should for me.”

“A centaur? Now you’re pulling my leg.” Discord changed into his Draconequus for, his facial expression still the same. “I’d question if someone slipped something in my tea, but I really shouldn’t be surprised by anything anymore when it comes to how insane you are.”

“Oh, hush it, Xavier,” Discord snorted. “There’re very few people that I care about. She’s one of them, and possibly the only one to care about me as much as I do her. In fact, she probably cares about me more than I care for her. My own son doesn’t care for me the way she does. I’ve seen what immortality does to people like yourself. It eats you up, leaving nothing but a cold shell, an empty remnant. I don’t want her to end up like that, but I can’t take it away, because then she’ll either demand me give it back or asked my son to give it to her.” Discord’s tail waved side to side, displaying his conflicted feelings on the subject. “She means a lot to me. I like her personality, even you can say she’s adorable, she can sing like an angel, kindest soul I’ve ever found, as un-confrontational as you can get, she spends her life looking after animals, she’ll give up more than she should for people who probably don’t deserve it, a perfect example is this fella here,” He said, the thumb of his lion paw jabbed against his chest. “I like her being around. I even had tea with her every weekend before I told her what I was. I’ve told her almost everything, I almost hoped I scare her away, but it’s made her more determined to stay with me.”

Discord was going to mention that cow, but he didn’t need to talk about her. She was nothing but a pattern donor for his son. Deadbeat mom. Picard had dealt with the nice Amanda before she became Screwy, discussed mortality and immortality, though he surprisingly didn’t remember much from the conversation. He’d been so busy that he’d forgotten about it. Oh well, it wasn’t all that big of a deal. He couldn’t remember everything while under this much stress.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you loved her.”

His tail stopped swaying as he took that in. Did he? Was that even possible? Three thousand years ago, he’d say it was impossible for the Continuum to go to war, for not only a Q to become a parent but HIM before a parent, was it really all that impossible to think he could love someone? It was Shy, what wasn’t there to love about her? It was something to consider and ponder one. Now that she was immortal, he’d be able to spend his time figuring out if it was merely a possibility or actuality.

Discord thought more about it, his tail starting to wave again. Could he? Could he be capable of something as mortal as love? Spike did point out that he didn’t just spend every weekend with Fluttershy because he liked tea, which she’d gotten him hooked on. He’d talk to Janeway about it or Princess Useless. She was Princess of Love, which was a joke to him since he didn’t believe in it, until now. Well, more around the time he watched what Big Mac went through for that mare of his. Sugar something? Ah, Sugar Bell, that was it. Their names started to sound alike after a while.

A random idea popped into his head after that. The Q, that was all fine, but naming themselves all Q? It was far too confusing for mortal minds. He’d taken the name Ashke a couple centuries after he’d been made, not that he really claimed it as an actual title to be called. He was so used to being called Discord, that it might as well be his name. Maybe they should do that? The Q wanted individualism, names would be perfect for that! Anarchy was just a nickname the brat had chosen for himself, but he could choose a proper name later on. A name to keep. All of them could? Maybe they could have their own form as well? The Draconequus itself was a joke, so that wouldn’t be enough, he could give the idea to Shy later. She knew a lot about animals, she could help him pick out an original form for them to have instead of random ones they wore. Something to really call their own that wouldn’t kill a mortal if they saw it.

“Thank you for that,” Discord said, snapping his fingers and returning the captain to his throne. Love, it was such a strange thing. You could say you loved your family, but that you also loved chocolate and whatever else. It was a word with many meanings, something that led to many possibilities, it was chaotic. A term that fit him very well. Discord snapped his fingers again, teleporting to wherever his son was, which happened to be Ten Forward. He’d said not to bother Guinan for forking him, but did he listen? No! Well, he hadn’t actually said it, he’d glared it. Still, didn’t that stupid brat ever listen? Nope. Because he was Discord’s son and he himself seldom listened.

Fluttershy was singing, she was on that stage singing with that melting voice of hers. That voice could calm the wrath of the gods, not that he was gonna test that out. She wasn’t saying any words, it was mostly vocals, but that was even more beautiful. Now the man had pointed it out, Discord really had a think about it. Data was on his violin, and the pegasus was singing like the little angel she was. He couldn’t see where Anarchy was, probably hiding because his dad had just turned up.

A couple people were surprised since Discord hadn’t returned to the humanoid form, though most of them weren’t as Fluttershy had told them about Discord’s preferred form now. She wasn’t kidding when she said it was chaotic. It irritated those who worked in biology, no real need to explain why that was.

“Now here’s a face I didn’t want to ever see again.” Misses no-brows had come to make his misery even more miserable. And yes, that was possible. “She speaks very highly of you, Discord.” Knowing her, she would’ve made him sound like a saint compared to what a douche he really was. “Makes me wonder what you did to make her like you so much.”

“Took over her world, manipulated her rulers into believe they moved celestial bodies, is the reason they have magic, caused bedlam and misery, took a nap for a thousand years, manipulated her and her friends into believing they had some kind of fantasy destiny, I even stabbed them all in the back and betrayed them to an energy eating monster. Considering all I’ve done, I don’t deserve her, but there she is.” Singing with that angelic voice. She seemed to attract monsters to her. Just look at that wee demon ironically called Angel. “Believe it or not, Sister Mary Clarence, I want your advice.”

“What would the almighty Q want from me?” She could tell he was different. Still a total jerk, in her eyes nothing could change that, but he’d matured. She knew how Q aged, seeing as she and Discord had a bit of a past, so he’d matured somehow. Was she surprised by that possibility? Q, changing? Nah, that was a bit farfetched. As farfetched as pretty much everything Fluttershy said. She spoke so highly of him, it was like she was talking about a completely different person.

“How do you raise a son?” She stared at him for a few moments, deciphering the words that he’d just said. She must be going senile if he asked her about parenting. Discord snapped his fingers, summoning Anarchy to his side. The young man glared at Guinan, and his dad for revealing him, and Discord slapped him over the head. “For the final time no, you can’t get back at her for forking me!” Anarchy grunted in annoyance. “Don’t give me that. When I tell you not to do something, it means don’t do it. How hard is that to understand?”

“She stuck a fork in your hand!” He’d been spying on the woman. The listener didn’t listen hard enough if she didn’t know Anarchy was watching her. Probably going deaf with old age. “And I’m supposed to let her get away with that am I?”

“Yes, you are.” He kind of deserved it for being a total tool and endangering everyone aboard the ship. “She hurt me, and a lot of others have. Are going to go after that Calamarian that tried killing me? or the thousands of millions of other races that would love to stick my head on a pike, knit sweaters out of my intestines and use my balls as teabags? There’re even a couple of Q who’d just love to hang us with our optic nerves.” Anarchy kept his mouth shut. He knew there were a couple Q who were still very angry about all the change, and as he hadn’t been involved in the war, he didn’t know how bad it’d been. He knew his dad had been shot in the arm, but as he’d never been shot, he wouldn’t know what that was like. “It’s part of life. You’re going to make enemies, you’re going to have people who’ll hate your guts like eyebrowless here,” he said nodding to Guinan. “There’s an old earth saying. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” He never actually got what that meant. He always assumed that keeping them close meant you could keep a closer eye on them, so it was harder for them to put a dagger through your spine. “And there’s another one. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“Insults aside, not bad advice there.” Anarchy snapped his fingers, disappearing from the mortal’s view, but Discord knew he was still around. “So, you’ve actually found someone who was willing to have a kid with you? Poor them.”

“Poor them? Poor me! She’s that Klingon halfling that went with Worf all because I spent too much time on my son.” Shy’s voice was keeping him from getting angry when thinking about the cow. Waste of mass she was. “You’ve got kids, how do you make them listen to you? Mine’s the antichrist.” He knew he was calling himself Satan. He kinda was. The whole red skin, horns and goat legs thing, that was a very weird phase back then. Yikes.

“I’m just amazed at the fact you’ve procreated, I thought Q were against that sort of thing?” He snorted. He repeated what he’d given to Picard in an even more watered-down form. She wasn’t surprised he’d caused a war, she was just surprised that he’d been a ringleader. And that it wasn’t because someone stole his pop tart or something childish? “Well, I had a young man who was extremely rebellious. What did I do? I let him make his mistakes, and I talked to him when he was ready. You can’t force these things.”

“Your son didn’t have the power to knock planets out of orbit when he was hours old.”

“True. But, he did desperately want attention from his father who didn’t want to be a part of his life. He acted out in all kinds of ways in hope of getting his attention, but it did nothing but drive him further away. That brat of yours is probably going to do the same thing, he had the same eyes as my boy. Though in your case it’s the mother that doesn’t want anything to do with him.” Right on the nose Whoopi. “I was always there for him with the door open. I don’t know what yours’ll do but try the same. And try to find a mother figure for him to look up to, that’ll help.”

“Thanks.” Look at that, Guinan giving actually helpful advice, must be Christmas. Qmas! No, that was stupid. Cringeworthy actually. He seemed to have a new habit of continuously embarrassing himself with stupid choices that always came back to bite him right in the crotch then shake like a rottweiler. Discord watched the mare, his ears perking upwards slightly as he could hear it was nearing its end. She needed the ultimate send-off, one that they’d never forget. When she was moments from ending her angelic tune, Discord snapped his fingers, causing a nearby star to go supernova.

The waves of colours were as beautiful as ever. Despite living for a very long time, Discord never got tired of seeing them. Unlike mortals, he could see them up close, and he was able to see a lot more colours than they could. Everyone turned to look at the display, including the mare it was for. To see her adorable eyes, whose irises reflected the colourful waves, widen with such wonder… it made him feel a warmth from a heart he didn’t actually have. The ship was shielded from the sun’s raw power, allowing them all to see it without being harmed in any way.

An explosion of colour and light and life, all swirling together like a symphony. Everyone watched the beautiful event, the image burnt into their moral minds. The more he watched her, the more it seemed possible. What wasn’t there to love about her? She was so precious to him. There was so much to show her, so many people he could let her meet and let her guide to her ever-growing light. Fluttershy, the pegasus with a heart of gold and shined like a sun, her kindness borderline infectious. It was a little sad in a way. What they were all watching was the last breath of an atomic giant, witnessing its last signs of life that would melt into the expanse that was space. Even though it was essentially a fancy funeral, he couldn’t help but smile.

Four's A Crowd

Fluttershy hummed to herself, drawing in her sketchbook. She was drawing all she’d seen on her adventure, a smile on her muzzle. It was a lot more fun than she imagined it’d been, those people had been so nice. She thought Geordi and Data were cute together, like brothers, Data possibly the cutest out of the two. He wasn’t organic, an artificially created life form, but he had personality. He had heart, despite not having a physical one. Beverly was more interested in her biology than her, but she didn’t mind, it made sense for a doctor to be curious about her. Deanna was really sweet, her empath powers a very curious thing to have. She wondered if she had empathic abilities? It was a possibility. Worf wasn’t all that bad, he just left her alone. Then there was… What was the other man’s name again? Riker? Yeah, that was it, Riker.

When she told him that she’d convinced Discord to make her immortal, he told her about his own experience with him. Discord had turned him into a Q, pushing towards having him in the Continuum. He was, in Discord’s own words, a brat back then who didn’t think as far ahead as he did now. Which still wasn’t very far, but he’d gotten better. He’d told her that he felt himself changing, he acted differently, and Riker said it was akin to being erased and replaced at the same time. He was being hollowed out and replaced by something else. She found that strange. How come she wasn’t experiencing the same thing he had? Was it because Discord hadn’t turned her into a Q?

Then… then there was the Calamarian event. Discord had been turned into a mortal. It’d only been for a day, but it’d happened. She wondered why he didn’t want to tell her? Was it because of the Calamarian constantly trying to kill him? That’d be a good reason, but, she was still curious. She’d bring it up what he popped by, or when Anarchy popped by. She wasn’t sure where Discord was, he was probably doing something that a deity would do. Not really sure what it was? She likely wouldn’t comprehend it, and she didn’t mind that.

Taking her mind off that event, the pegasus concentrated on the drawing. The supernova, possibly the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. It made her wonder what else was there in the universe? All of those planets, dimensions, realities, how much would she be able to see? Angel was eating a carrot, watching her draw the beautiful event. He had a little flick through her other drawings, confused by the odd creatures he saw. He glared at one of them. It was of that creature, his spawn and her, the three of them together. Not only did that irritate the fluffy rabbit, but the fact he was left out made him upset. He’d made sure she’d do one of him later… that supernova drawing was quite beautiful to look at. Almost made him wish he’d seen it for himself.

The mare wasn’t aware that she was being watched by someone very curious. Not Discord, not Anarchy, but another of their kind. He’d wondered where Discord had gone off too when he took that break, and for whatever reason attempted to build a relationship with that psychopath that killed eighty of their kind. This world had Q written all over it. Literally. The energy here stank of him. This mare had been made immortal, and it’d been a willing transition. A Q could tell whether immortality was forced or not, right now this Q could sense a couple of creatures here who had been forced into immortality. None were turned into Q, thank eternity for that, but the ones forced into immortality were likely being led to believe they were deities. Believe it or not, it wasn’t uncommon, nor common, for a Q to make a being immortal to make them believe they were a god or messiah, then rip the carpet from under them, destroying the feeble idea which was religion.

He wasn’t alone either. Altogether, there were three of them, all curious about how Q was spending his time. They’d seen the form Q, or Discord as he’d nicknamed himself as, had taken so they’d all fitted their own forms to fit in with his chaotic theme. They watched the pegasus and looked at what she was drawing. She was very close to Q-Discord whatever, and she was currently humming in a little tune. Her voice was likely soft like honey, but you should be careful of those with voices of honey, for they may rot your teeth. It’s an Algrean saying, so don’t be surprised if that doesn’t make sense.

“That’s a nice wee drawin’ ye got there lassie,” said one of the three, who had a thick Scottish accent. He revealed his form to the surprised pegasus, a smile on his muzzle. He had the tail of a crocodile, the left hind leg of an orange salamander, the right hind leg from a coyote, the left front leg from a cougar and the right front leg from a black bear. She couldn’t see his face because it and his back all the way to his rump was shrouded in thick dark grey hair. She could see some of his muzzle, seeing it was a navy-blue cow face with overly large cow ears poking out the sides of his hair. He didn’t have wings, oddly, but he did have two deer antlers atop his head.

Another Draconequus. Another Q, one she hadn’t met before. And since Discord wasn’t here, it meant that this one had just turned up out of the blue without Discord’s knowledge. She was slightly afraid of him because of that fact. But, she didn’t have a reason to be afraid. She was sure that Discord would protect her if something happened. She’d been made immortal, but these beings were powerful enough to be able to end the life of an immortal, so she was practically mortal before this creature, vulnerable. She’d be brave though. She did want to meet more of Discord’s kind, after all, this was her chance, time to make a good impression.

“Thank you,” she smiled. “Do you draw as well? I’m not too good at it yet, but I’ll get there with the right practice and determination!” the being wasn’t as tall as Discord or Anarchy in this form, and seemed more comfortable on all fours, which was another difference to the bipedal father and son. he also looked vastly different from the two. She liked his accent, it was so foreign and different, she thought it was sweet.

“Nah, no need ta draw when ah see the whole universe in front of me eyes. Either me eyes are failin’ me, or you’re an immortal?” She nodded. “Aye, so, how did a wee lass like yerself become immortal then? It ainnae somethin’ yer kind are supposed tae have yet.”

“I asked Discord to make me immortal. I’m his friend, someone that he holds very close, and I didn’t want him to be hurt by my passing.” Her wings ruffled a little as she took a couple seconds to decipher the very thick accent. “You’re a Q, aren’t you?” So, she knew about them, did she? Interesting. He nodded to her, a grin on his face. The visible part, anyway. “It’s very nice to meet you, I’m Fluttershy.”

“So, you’re friends with that pain in our backsides?” She was very cute. For a mortal. “Well, since they’ve taken nicknames, guess ah should too. Call me… Pandora. Aye, that’s what ye wee ones can call me for nows.” Pandora? That was a sweet name. It sounded feminine, but she’d seen Discord’s feminine side, so she knew not to judge. She even theorized that Q’s didn’t have genders but had preferred pronouns. It made them all the more interesting to her for some reason.

“That’s a wonderful name!” She complimented. “Wait here a moment, I’ll go and make some tea for us.” He watched her get up and trot into her home, curiosity starting to surge throughout his body. Pandora was very interested in the wee one now. She knew about them, she’d thrown away her mortal life just to make Discord happy. A very unique individual indeed?

The other two revealed themselves, equally curious about the mare. One was another male, the one who’d kicked Discord out of the Continuum all that time ago actually. He made his form to be a little larger than Discord’s. No major reason for it, he just liked his forms being large. It wasn't anything insane, but it was intimidating. His body was pure white and unlike the other Draconeqi Fluttershy had seen, he was even on both sides. He had a lion's rear end with an abnormally long tail, his front half from a snowy owl's body and his face looked like a mix between a tiger and a horse. He had bear ears and two moose antlers. His mane and tail had long fur with the color of fire. His sclera was black with blue irises and pink pupils.

The other was a female and made herself just slightly smaller than Pandora. She had the head and neck of a lamb with two gazelle horns atop her head, her right front leg was from a grizzly bear and her front left leg was from a fennec fox, her right back leg from a tiger and her left back leg from a gazelle and finally her lemur tail that twitched against the breeze. She was a very light blue sclera with darker blue irises, her pupils the same color.

“She’s a cute wee thing isnae she?” Pandora said to the other two, who couldn’t argue with that statement. She was rather cute. “Didnae even have tae ask! Just gone and went tae make me tea. Ah like her.” Since Pandora had chosen a nickname, they’d have to have nicknames too. The other male decided his name would be Maelstrom, while the little female chose her nickname to be Furore. They hadn’t really chosen their own nicknames before, and as a guide, they kept with the chaotic theme Discord started.

“You’d like anybody who did something for you for free,” Maelstrom snorted, raising a brow to Pandora’s wide grin. “I’m surprised. I expected everyone here to be dead, given how that psychopath is here.” The chances of Discord changing her was pretty much impossible, even the most optimistic Q could see that. Fluttershy walked outside, her sweet eyes widening when she spotted the other two. She zipped back inside, leaving the three on their own. “Not too bad at drawing, is she?” He didn’t even acknowledge that she’d come outside, instead focusing on something that interested him. “Even got his bad hair.”

“You’re one to talk,” Furore snapped with a Boston accent. “No matter what form you take, your hair is horrible, even if the form ain’t meant to have hair!” Maelstrom rolled his eyes, not bothering with her insult. “Though, you’re not wrong. Maybe our baby brother managed to whip her into shape, or at least locked her inside of something so she can’t attack us when we’re at our most vulnerable.” Pandora and Maelstrom silently agreed that the psycho should be inside a black hole, one of the few things able to keep a Q in one spot if it didn’t get any help. Or if you weren’t smart enough to know how to get out.

The mare trotted outside holding a tray of tea with her wings, humming a little tune. She simply sat down and poured tea into four cups. One for her, three for them. She’d gone in to get tea for Furore and Maelstrom as well? Oddly nice of her since they were strangers. Fluttershy was very curious as she hadn’t seen other Q yet, and was very curious as to who they were and what stories they may have? She didn’t expect to be told any secrets, there was time for that. Maelstrom simply rose a brow to the mare, glancing down at the tea but not touching it. Pandora on the other limb levitated the cup to his lips and tasted it. They weren’t organic, so they didn’t need to feed or need any liquid, but they could still taste things. If it tasted good, they wouldn’t mind it. Though, their non-existent taste buds could get a bit muddled? For instance, Pandora had a personal liking for cement.

“You can call me Furore, grumpy grumps there decided his nickname is Maelstrom.” Furore walked up to the mare, looking deep into her eyes, their noses touching. “How did our lil bro manage to wrangle an adorable lil thing like yourself? Eh?” Her older voice didn’t really fit her cute form, but the Q were an extremely odd race, so Fluttershy didn’t question it. She did wonder why they chose to be Draconeqi when they could’ve chosen any form they wanted? They were likely keeping with Discord’s theme, which was a little cute in itself.

Fluttershy began telling the tale of how she met the spirit, reminiscing about those old memories. In a way, it was like looking at two different people. Discord the Draconequus and Discord the Q were almost like two different people, yet they were the same. The Discord before was simply an antagonistic chaotic spirit that cared for no living being other than himself, shattering all concepts of order and spreading chaos. The Discord now was deeper than that. He had deep emotions, he did care for others more than just himself and he actually brought order, just in his own way. The spirit she knew now had started and won a war that his homeland desperately needed, bringing change and was putting together a new flavor of order. It was difficult to explain...

She looked back at each event, taking notice of little things she didn’t before. How Discord watched parents with their foals, how his expression was one thing, but his eyes told quite another emotion. They now looked older, a grin could be hiding a grimace, a smile hiding a frown. She wondered how many events had taken place before Equestria that he buried away, refusing to deal with? She had time to work through them all, taking everything one step at a time.

Then she started to frown. Equestria, the home she’d known for so long was a lie played by an ancient god who’d taken on more than he could handle. When he did leave, her home would crash and burn. The alicorns, their beliefs, the magical animals, magic itself, all of it would shatter. The animals… what would happen to them? The Timberwolves, the Wendigo, the Ursa majors, and minors, would they all perish? It was a very heart-breaking fact. Discord couldn’t stay in Equestria forever, his people and his son needed him, but if he left, then many would die. It was a conundrum she was sure she’d be faced with in the future. That was the curse of a god. To make decisions mortals shouldn’t have to. Something she was going to have to accept along with her choice. There was a lot she’d have to accept along with this curse she’d willingly taken on.

She then spoke about the days leading up to the reality shattering event. How he seemed contemplative, daydreaming and his mind elsewhere. Only now did she know it was because he was thinking about how to reveal who he was to her. And then what happened afterwards. She looked at her hooves, her mind starting to wonder again. Now she was immortal, was she going to be eaten up like Discord had warned? Like how Riker described? She wasn’t as timid as she used to be anymore, a lot braver than before, she didn’t even have stage fright when Data asked her if she wanted to sing when he heard her sing a little tune from the Pony Tones. When she helped animals, she was a lot less cautious than before… perhaps she jumped into this faster than she should’ve. But if she took it back now, how would that allow her to help Discord? But if this change got worse, wouldn’t it hurt him more to see his warning come true?

“He didn’t tell you everything,” Maelstrom snorted, his tail waving. She knew he hadn’t told her everything, but again, she had time for that. “You know he’s got two thousand mortal years till he has to come back to the Continuum, and no way you’re coming along with him. Last time we let a mortal turned immortal come to the Continuum, thirty neutral Q died…” not everyone got involved in the war. Some decided to stay out of the conflict, which was understandable, but they didn’t have any defence against that lunatic when she slaughtered them. There weren’t many Q, barely a few thousand. That number had been cut down a third, which was a big deal to their kind.

“I know.” That Amanda, she was someone she could possibly turn into if she lost her way. She needed to keep her virtue of kindness. Even if it wasn’t even real, she was the Element of Kindness, and she was going to keep that close to her heart. Just keep hold of that. The Element of Kindness. She needed to hold onto that and never let go, she wouldn’t become like Screwy! “I’m immortal now, so I can wait for him when he can take the time to see me.”

“Sorry lass,” Pandora apologized. “The five thousand years he’s taken is pretty much a five-minute smoke break tae us, and with all the rebuildin’ going on, I’m afraid you might not see ‘im fir a few… possibly million years.” Was time that different to them? “He sounds pretty attached tae ya as well, I donae think he’s gonnae let her go that easily.” The last sentence was aimed more at Maelstrom and Furore than Fluttershy, and the two reluctantly agreed. It was bad to get attached to something like this… especially since Discord was supposed to be fixing what he’d broken.

“Listen toots,” Furore started. “Our home is in shambles. That’s been said ta death, but it’s kinda clear the dude that left ain’t the same as the one now. That’s a problem. We barely know how to deal with the old Discord, let alone the new one. Then there’s ‘Anarchy’ as ya call ‘im. How’re we supposed to deal with this new development? Hell, what if he develops love! He’s already got a kid and started a war, who knows what else the glitch is capable of?”

Love. Something that was unkillable, it was eternal, and it was a fire that couldn’t be snuffed out. Had she lit that flame? If she had, what was she going to do with that fire? Judging how Furore said it, the Q didn’t really feel love like they did, but Discord wasn’t any old Q. He was different, something new and was constantly flipping off their standards. He’d done two things the Q considered impossible, which was becoming a parent and starting a war that, while not wanted, was needed. Was love really so outrageous? Fluttershy smiled slightly, her resolve about her immortal returning to what it was when she encouraged him to make that snap. If he was starting to develop feelings, or already had them for her, then it made her life that much more valuable to him. Her death would be just that more painful. Question was… would she be able to return the feelings he may be giving her?

“If he did, would that be such a bad thing?” Fluttershy said with a warm smile. “Love is a tricky thing, it isn’t very easy to explain if it’s explainable at all? Maybe you three will find someone to love, to want to spend your existence with, to share your soul with. The Continuum is reshaping itself to be more modern, right? I think love should be something you at least investigate.”

“You really think we should waste our precious time with something as meaningless and futile as love?” Maelstrom snorted, something he apparently liked to do.

“Didn’t you have a war to change the fact you had too much precious time?” Fluttershy countered.

“Well…” despite having blonde fur, she wasn’t stupid. Pandora and Furore grinned, liking her a little more.

“She’s got ya there,” Pandora said, grabbing Maelstrom’s tea as he’d finished his. “If we did investigate this ‘love’ then how’d we go aboot it? we wouldnae have a clue. We watch mortals frilly aboot with the silly concept, but we havenae really dealt with it ourselves?”

“It isn’t something you can force, it’s something that comes naturally. If Discord does love me, it was through our friendship, which is how many find love. Friendship is very hard for immortals, having to watch those you care about die, but it’ll make you cherish your time with them all the more.” Had a wise head on her winged shoulders, that was for sure. She didn’t have half bad advice on all these new things, despite being a little one. “If Discord can find somebody, I’m sure all of you can.”

“Could use more of that optimism back home, it’s a bloomin’ mess back there,” Furore said as she sipped some of her tea. She suddenly found herself turned green? Pandora snickered at the sudden change while Maelstrom just stared at her, not knowing what he should do about it. “Do I have to ask the question?”

“Oh, sorry. It must be left over from our last tea weekend before this all happened. Discord likes to enchant our tea in different ways. One time he made ginseng tea actually sing,” she sighed with nostalgia. “It’ll go away in a couple minutes, so no need to worry about it.” Furore looked at her now green fur, rolling her eyes.

“Got any other enchanted tea? I want tae gi’ it a try,” Pandora smiled. Fluttershy nodded, mirroring his expression. She got up and went back inside her cottage to get some more tea. The deity then looked to his two companions, his smile still on his muzzle. “Ya sure we cannae take her with us?”

Authors Note

I don't think I'm going to be able to keep up with the story. I'm not experienced enough to write for a character like Q, he's something out of my league. for the moment. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back to this, but I'll try to. When I have more experience maybe? All of the advice, critiques, and stuff have been really helpful for me so I thank everyone who has enjoyed this so far. I also thank the people who pushed me to carry on the story that was supposed to be a one-shot. I didn't think it would be as popular as it is at the moment.

Have a great day - ZD