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bodrewritten · 9 months ago

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Daughter of Discord Rewritten Chapter 5: Half a Mind

At this moment, Screwball was ten years old. Most of her friends had received their cutie marks by now, except for Apple Blossom, who was as obsessed over it. Thunder had three storm clouds while Lightning had a lightning bolt. They had received them after wrangling some escaped storm clouds. Dinky had a postcard and Cinnamon twist had a cinnamon stick, making their talents quite obvious.

Taco Grandé and his toasted tortilla, maple cinnamon and his maple leaf, Autumn Glory and her long-recieved zap apple. It made Screwball finally feel like she was a part of something.

They were in the schoolyard, making teams for a game of basketball. Unfortunately, Gold Digger and Silver platter were the captains. Their cutie marks were three gold nuggets and a silver tray, respectively. Lightning and thunder were picked first, since they were the best athletes. Then as he crowd was picked near clean, it came down to Apple Blossom, Screwball and Dinky.

"Let's see…" Silver platter thought, rubbing his chin. "Okay, I'll take the blank flank."

Apple Blossom groaned as she went to join his team.

"Alright, let's play!" Gold Digger announced, bouncing the basketball.

"Hey!" Dinky cried. Her brows were furrowed as she realized what she'd done. "What about us?"

The colt turned to the remaining pair. "What about you?"

"You kidding me?" Silver Tray grunted. "Dumbo can't keep her eye on the ball. and it's a pony game."

Screwball gritted her teeth. "I am a pony."

"who here actually believes that!" Gold Digger taunted.

"Knock it off, guys!" Lightning shouted.

"You're not being fair!" Thunder agreed.

"Why don't you let them play?" Cinnamon Stick demanded.

Gold Digger tilted his head towards Screwball. "Why doesn't she go back where she belongs? In the Canterlot Gardens with her dad!"

Screwball had to bite her cheek to hold back her anger. Dinky put a hoof on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Screwy," she said. "I didn't want to play basketball, anyway."

"Hey, numbskull!" Gold Digger called. "Catch!"

Dinky did not see the ball in time to catch it. It hit her square in the forehead, a metalling PA-TANG reverberated throughout her punding head.

"Dinky!" Screwball cried, kneeling down to her.

"Gosh, sorry!" Gold Digger said sarcastically. "Hope that didn't cause any brain damage!"

Screwball narrowed her eyes at the colt, fire blazing within them. "You jerk! Dinky may be uncoordinated, but she's not stupid!"

"Speaking of stupid, You freaks deserve each other!"

A few other kids started laughing with him. Screwball looked down at her best friend covered in blood from her muzzle, tears streaming from her eyes.

"That's it!"

She stood on her hind legs and clapped her front hooves together with a great boom, causing the ponies to fall silent as they looked up at her in alarm.

"You want to play basketball? Fine! Let's play some basketball!"

Gold Digger let out a shriek as gold light enveloped around him, pressing him into a sphere. The others backed away as he bounced on the asphalt.

"Screwball, what are you doing?!" Cinnamon twist exclaimed in horror.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Screwball screamed like a mad mare. "I'm scoring three points!"

The colt screamed as he was thrown across the basketball court and into the net. The insane filly then darted her eyes at Silver Tray. Before he had a chance to escape, he was pressed into a ball as well and tossed into the other basket.

"Woo hoo!" Screwball cried, throwing her hooves into the air. "That's six points for me, zip for you!"

A score board appeared matching what she had just announced. Apple Blossom raced inside the schoolhouse.

"Screwball, are you nuts?!" Dinky cried out.

"Nuts?! I'm not nuts! Cuz I'm Screwball, the Princess of Chaos! And you all made fun of me and hurt my friend! NO MORE!"

As she let out a frightening laugh, the sky turned red and a bolt of lightning struck. Screwball paused as she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Cheerilee's furious and concerned face staring back at her.

Screwball sat hunched on the school steps. Even though the door was closed, she could hear the conversation clear as day.

"That pony nearly killed my boy!" Filthy Rich bellowed.

"She didn't mean to harm any pony," Fluttershy insisted.

"She's a menace! You should expel her at once-No!" Silver Tray's mother screeched. "A child like that should be in an asylum! After all, what else can you do with the Devil's child?!"

Fluttershy gasped and Screwball heard a slap. "How dare you insult my child and my husband?!"

"Every pony, calm down!" Cheerilee shouted.

"Calm down?!" Filthy exclaimed. "Look at my son! Look at her son! That girl must be punished! I've got half a mind to tell the princess to increase the security around here!"

"And what about your kids?" Derpy demanded. "They hurt my Dinky! Screwball was defending her!"

Screwball winced as she tried to block their words out.

"Freak! Devil child! Mad pony! Halfling! Monster..."

"She doesn't belong!"

A tear fell down her cheek.

The sound of the door slamming open broke her out of her trance. She looked up to see Gold Digger, Silver Tray and their parents send her death glares as they passed by. The boys held ice packs to their heads. Gold digger stuck his tongue out at the filly before his ear was pulled by his father.

"none of that 'half-pony' malarkey. You call her by her name, got it boy?" And they trotted off.

Next came Derpy and Dinky, but they were silent. Then her mother appeared. She was not happy. "You're lucky she didn't expel you," she said calmly. Screwball hung her head.

"Honey, this is the third complaint I've received this year! I've let the other mishaps slide, but this…this is worse than the piano incident!"

"I'm sorry-" her throat felt like it was wrapped in needles. She burst out in sobs that shook her small frame. "I…I don't know why- I…I didn't mean…"

Fluttershy sighed and sat beside her daughter. "Look. It's noble that you were standing up for your friend, but you hurt those ponies just as they had hurt you and Dinky."

"I wish I had done worse."

"Screwball!"

"At least then it would have all stopped!" She shouted, eyes bulging with pain and grief, almost regret. "They're right, Mommy. Maybe I am evil like they say. I…I don't wanna be evil!"

She cried into her mother's chest. Fluttershy stroked her mane tenderly.

"You're not evil, sweetie. You just made a bad decision."

"What if I can't control myself next time? What if I…?"

"You'll learn, angel baby. Maybe…you shouldn't use your powers anymore, at least not in school. Okay? And we'll accommodate, like they said at magic camp."

Her daughter glanced up and nodded.

Dinky slowly approached them. "I still think you were pretty scary back there, but…thanks for sticking up for me."

Screwball looked at her friend and then stood to embrace her.

"I have an idea!" Derpy exclaimed. "Why don't we forget this whole mess and go down to Sugar Cube Corner? A good muffin always makes me feel better!"

"Yay!" Dinky cheered in agreement.

"Can we, Mommy?" Screwball begged. "I'll clean the bathroom tonight!"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, knowing that chore would only take a few seconds. "Alright."

The four were greeted by an exasperated Pinkie Pie.

"Hello…" she wheezed, "Derpy…Flutter…Screwy…Dinky…table…for…four?"

"Sure," Fluttershy uttered. "You alright, Pinkie?"

"Fine!" she gasped. "Running…store…myself…busy! Seat yourselves! Berightwithyou!"

As they entered the shop, Screwball gasped, seeing the cinnamon twins, thunder and lightning, and Apple Blossom occupying a table.

"On second thought," she whispered to her mother, "let's go.

Fluttershy stopped her daughter and pushed her back in the other direction. "You can't avoid your friends forever."

"They think I'm a freak!"

"You don't know that. And if they do, I suggest you prove them wrong."

Screwball turned in the direction of the two colts and two fillies that were looking at her now. She took a deep breath and approached them.

"Hey," she uttered. "I know you probably don't want to speak to me again after what I did…"

"Are you kidding?" Lightning exclaimed.

"That was…awesome!" Thunder declared, giving his sister a brohoof.

Screwball's ears perked up. "You mean you're not mad?"

"Mad?" Apple Blossom repeated. "Sure, we were a little freaked, but it's about time some pony taught those bullies a lesson!"

"Just don't go so loony on us again, okay?" Cinnamon twist asked with a shiver. "That scared the hay out of me!"

"What are you standing down there for?" Maple inquired. "We're friends, aren't we?" Lightning questioned. "Pull up a seat!"

Screwball smiled as she and Dinky joined their friends. No matter what happened, she always knew she could count on them.

Nobody said anything at the dinner table for the first fifteen minutes. The only sound was Discord's crunching on rocks. (Igneous of course, a dragon delight!) Fluttershy kept glancing at Screwball and tilting her head towards Discord. The filly shook her head in response. Finally, the draconequus dropped his fork.

"Okay, what's with the awkward silence?"

"Screwball," Fluttershy said slowly. "Isn't there something you want to tell Daddy?"

"About what?" Screwball asked innocently.

"About what happened at school today?"

"Alright, story time!" Discord grinned and leaned back on his chair. "What'd you do this time?"

"I…" Screwball stammered. "I…played basketball with Gold Digger and Silver Tray."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's…nice?"

She took a deep breath. "They were the basketballs."

Discord stifled a laugh, but he could not contain it. He pounded his fist on the table, clutching his stomach with his claw.

"You…played basketball…and they…were the basketballs! Oh, if I had been there to see that! Wait! I can!"

He vanished from his seat and then reappeared a few seconds later, rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Oh, that was priceless! You know you have your mother's evil laugh? Pure ge..." his laughter stuttered and his smile became nervously stifled.

Screwball could not help but shrink down.

"May I speak with you alone, my queen?"

He followed his wife to the bedroom. Once she had shut the door, she twirled her around to face him.

She leaned in for a kiss and he caught it with the passion of ten thousand fireflies lighting a path to heaven. They kissed for a moment before discord remembered why he called her here and gently pushed away.

"now wait a minute! That's not what I meant!"

"I know, but you looked stressed."

"It is a big deal! Doesn't it concern you…how much alike we are? Me and screwy?"

"Why should it? She is our daughter."

"That's exactly why we should be worried! I love her as much as you do, but her powers…they're getting out of hand!"

"I know, but I don't know how to help her with that! Discord…the things they called her today…"

"Names are nothing."

"They called her a monster."

"...What?"

"Don't you see? She might wind up an outcast…like you were. What if something happens to make her lose control? What if…what if we have to turn her to…?"

He held up his claw. "Don't say it!"

She sighed as he slowly lay down, wrapping himself around her. "I know it's a horrible thing to suggest, but it could happen."

"No, it won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because she's our daughter." He gently lifted her chin. "She may have my demented mind, but she also has your good heart. That's how I know that no matter how many times she loses control, she will not go down the path I left long ago." He chuckled. "Besides, you've gone insane a couple times yourself."

She gasped and slapped his paw away. While giggling. "I hope she has your sense of justice."

"What?" he shrugged. "I love it when you go nuts! It's so…attractive."

Fluttershy covered her blushing goofy face with her hooves, pulled apart just for Discord to smooch her perfect muzzle. "Go talk to your daughter for Celestia's sake!" She giggled.

Freak, monster, devil child, doesn't belong…

The words echoed throughout Screwball's nightmares.

Go back to the Canterlot Gardens where you belong!

"No," she murmured, tossing in her bed.

You're evil, just like your daddy!

"No! NO!"

Discord was instantly at her bedside. "Screwball, honey?" he gasped. "What's wrong?"

The filly shrieked as her eyes popped open. She sighed in relief at the sight of her father. A first for discord.

"I'm okay, Daddy. I just had a bad dream."

"Oh, I see." He sat upon her bed. "Care to talk about it?"

"It was…those things they said about me today…they won't go away…"

"Is that all?" He took her into his arms and patted her on the back. "There, there. What do I always say?"

Screwball scrunched her nose. "Sauerkraut is good for you?"

"No, no, the other thing."

"Never bring pie to a cake fight?

"No, no, no! I mean about name-calling!"

"Oh. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

"Exactly! Well, technically the sticks and stones won't hurt you either."

She pulled away from his embrace and looked up at him desperately. "But Dad, what if they're right? I lost my mind today! I even scared my friends!"

He waved his paw as if it were a minor detail. "Every pony loses their mind once in a while. You should have seen your mother at her first Grand Galloping Gala!" He tapped his chin. "Actually, you can!"

He pulled a projector from nowhere and an image appeared on the wall. Screwball gasped at the sight of a slightly younger version of her mother in a torn ball gown, standing beside a huge net.

"I'll catch you yet, my pretties!" she said creepily to the animals cowering in fear. "Oh, yes. As soon as one of you little birds, or monkeys, or bears touches this net, you'll be mine! MINE!"

She then broke into maniacal laughter, lightning striking from the sky. Screwball did not know whether to be scared or amused. It was hard to believe that the mare she was watching was her sweet, nurturing mother.

Discord sighed in awe. "Yes, isn't she ravishing?" He pushed the image away. "Now you know not to get on your mother's bad side. The treatment she gave you and I today was nothing."

"Okay, so it's not as bad as I thought," Screwball admitted. "It's worse! I'm crazy on both sides!"

She groaned as she collapsed her head onto her pillow.

"Screwball, Screwball, Screwball," Discord said, shaking his head. "Every pony's crazy! Some just show it better than others."

"I being one of them," she mumbled, flipping onto her side.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, sweetie," her father assured her, stroking her head. "You have something that other ponies do not: chaos!"

"And where is that going to get me? Look at what it did to you!"

Discord was taken aback by this. Screwball sat up and faced him.

"I'm sorry, but… sometimes I think I might go too crazy…that I might turn evil…that they'll have to turn me to stone!"

"Oh, honey, don't say such a thing!" He tenderly wrapped his arms around her. "No pony's going to turn you to stone, or bring you any harm of any sorts, not while I'm here to protect you." He wiped her tears from her face. "It's..."

The filly shook her head with a sniff.

"screwy if you don't listen to me now, you might never get another chance to hear it again. You're a draconequus and ponies don't like change. They wanna stay stuck in their ways and they were raised to hate us. Now don't give them a reason to, don't give them what they want to believe is true. You don't get second chances with these ponies, they'll see you slip up and they might treat you in ways you will never recover from."

Screwball sniffled at the thought.

"But you know something? They'll always be wrong. Keep your head up high and prove to them what you know you are, what you make of yourself. Get your education. Make friends that trust you and treat you with the truth. You can't act like these other ponies, they have more than you do, more chances and more support. That doesn't mean you have to respect them. But princess..."

He lifted her head and kissed her cheek.

"make yourself something to be respected. And don't take any of their crap."

She pondered. She did not understand completely, but she nodded anyway, in the back of her mind this would never leave her. It wasn't sweet, it wasn't cruel, it was tangy and just kept her awake. She would never forget this, she needed it. Maybe one day she might remember.

"Good," her father smiled. "Now let's get you back to bed, shall we? I've got half a mind to match right up to the school council tomorrow and keep those colts out of college with what they called you."

Screwball crawled back under the covers and smiled up at the draconequus as he tucked her in.

"Would you sing me a lullaby, Daddy?"

He paused and chuckled. "I think you'd prefer your mother to sing for you."

"No. Her voice is beautiful, but I also like it when you sing."

He sighed and sang the lullaby he had written for her. This time, he added a new verse:

"Remember that one time I took you to that baseball game?

You got your cutie mark, And things were never quite the same.

Your wild pitches flew Driving the ponies all insane

'Cause I…am your papa, Discord And you…are a piece of me."

It was a subtle reminder of how special she was to him.

"I love you, papa," Screwball said when he was finished.

He kissed her on the forehead. "I love you too, my little abomination. And you take that name with pride."