The rest of the evening moved along fairly smoothly. Screwy continued to be a nuisance but Discord would shoot her a look as she would usually stop whatever it was she was doing. What would have simply been a happy occasion with family became a nightmare for him as he constantly worried about his daughters behavior. The joy of seeing her again was slowly being replaced with anxiety and guilt. FlutterShy seemed to notice this as she would try to calm him. As they sat around the tree and talking and laughing, and she would place a hoof over his paw whenever she sensed him tensing up again. He never took his eyes off the little purple mare.
Eventually midnight rolled around and they all began settling in for the night. Zephyr was sent to sleep on an airbed Discord summoned up in the boys room. He used his magic to turn the living room sofa into a nice cozy bed for the n-laws and made sure they were comfortable. FlutterShy's father needed a glass of water for his dentures and her mother needed a special body pillow to help with her bad hip. All easy requests for him to fulfill. He was friendly and gentle with the two elderly ponies despite the thoughts weighing on his mind.
"No need to worry about me daddy, I got it covered." ScrewBall chimed. He hadn't even asked or thought about where he would put her yet but before he could respond she clicked her hoof on the floor and summoned up a small wooden door. Every time she clicked her hoof like that it felt like somepony was driving a nail into his chest but he did his bets to ignore it. On the other side of the door was a small bedroom she had created, filled with stuffed animals and glow in the dark stars. Discord had a similar room of his own upstairs. A pocket dimension he had created to be his private space, a place where he could do whatever he pleased with no consequence. But a pocket dimension is no small feat of magic and seeing ScrewBall conjure one up so casually was a bit of shock.
"Hold one just one minute Screwy!" He insisted as he grabbed her up by her tail. "What do you think you're doing?" She smiled up at him sheepishly and he raised a brow questioningly.
"Just making me bed daddy," She replied innocently. Discord was about to question her further but realized his n'laws were staring at him. He set her back down.
"Well then, goodnight ScrewBall."
"Goodnight Daddy." She replied sweetly before tucking herself into bed and closing the door.
Discord said goodnight to his n'laws and his boys on he way up to the bedroom. FlutterShy followed behind him after a quick exchange with her mother. She could tell he seemed distressed about something and her mother had sensed it to.
"Don't worry about us dear we're fine, go talk to him, I think he needs you."
With that FlutterShy turned out the living room lights and went up to her room. Discord was laying curled up on top of the covers. She could see a sort of shiver in his breath although he had his back to her.
"Discord?" FlutterShy asked softly and she fluttered over to sit beside him on the bed. He pulled his face further away from her and she simply adjusted herself to get closer. She saw the tears in his eyes and pulled his face closer. "Oh baby, this isn't about dinner is it?" She asked as he rested his head between her forelegs.
"No." he choked as he tried to steady his voice.
"I thought you were happy to ScrewBall again, you seemed so excited." FlutterShy asked, running a hoof gently along the length of his neck.
"I was, but then I realized... FlutterShy I'm a horrible person..."
"No, Discord," She tried to assure.
"But I am," He insisted, sitting up and looking down at her with guilt in his eyes. "I made her years ago because I was bored. I wanted somepony to entertain me and my short attention span." He started to shake as he spoke. "I created a living, breathing thing for my own amusement. I made her to love me unconditionally but I don't deserve it!"
FlutterShy watched her husband as he simply fell apart in front of her. Tears streaming down his face as clawed at his eyes in a fit of rage. "I thought she was destroyed when you turned me to stone, but no! She's been alone for 30 years, and it's all my fault! She's was a mistake, but I can't ever tell her that!" He uncovered his face and collapsed back on the bed curling up once again into a tight ball. "I look at her FlutterShy and I see the person I've tried to leave behind. I see everything I hate about myself..."
FlutterShy crawled over his back to cuddle up against his chest. Now surrounded by his long lanky frame she nestled her head under his and spoke softly.
"Now Discord you don't know that. Maybe she's made a life for herself, 30 years is a long time. You didn't even ask her about it."
"I was a bit more preoccupied with trying not to scare your parents away." He confessed, unconsciously tightening his body around her tiny frame.
"That's just silly," FlutterShy teased. "My family loves you. Granted it took a while for them to warm up to you... But I'm sure they'll love ScrewBall too. You just need to give it time."
"She's not a pony FlutterShy," Discord said. "She's a construct, she doesn't age, she doesn't even need to eat or sleep, she was only humoring us. I don't know if she's mentally capable of doing much other than being what I built her to be. She's broken, and I made her that way."
"You're not a pony either." His wife pointed out. "And I still love you."