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?