Moonstruck

by senorpaii

Chapter 3: Emotional Years

Moonstruck

Chapter 3: Emotional Years

The young unicorn colt had just started with his High School education when the his young filly friend, Screwball, had made a breakthrough on her origins. She had discovered a journal pertaining to a certain chaotic night in which the weather was out of control. On the same day she was found in the castle, ten years ago. Screwball realized that this journal would be a prime chance to find out about where she came from and who her parents might be.

Tonight started all well until that damn storm started. The storm dun knocked out all our communications with the other cities and towns in Equestria. I hope we find out who started this and make them pay. Probably some pegasus. The big storm wasn’t supposta happen for another week.

Oh, lordy, who am I kidding? This storm wasn’t caused by no pony. Not even Celestia knows who dun this. I hope it isn’t anything too major. Could it be the Everfree Forest? Maybe- hang on, somepony’s at the door.

*********

Da Princess is sending me out to check on Discord’s statue, I dun know why. Am gonna go check when that darn storm lets up.

*********

Just returned from checkin tha’ statue and dun found nuffin. I swear I keep hearin’ dis damned baby cryin’. I dun know how that’s possible when we aren’t even close to da hospital!

*********

The crying sound is gettin ta be insufferable. Am gonna go check the statue again for.

*********

I just returned from da Princess’ chamber. I can’t believe what ah found...

.

The pages were torn out of the journal from there, leaving Screwball with even more unanswered questions and very few answers. She wanted to know what happened and who was the owner of this journal. She also wanted to know why Celestia never told her about this night and how she ended up int the castle. She was beginning to get angry with the Princess when she heard a voice. The same voice that had plagued her for a long time, off and on.

“Ahhh, it’s quite good to talk to you again, young one.” said the voice.

“Is...isityou...again....Ithoughtyouweregone!” exclaimed Screwball. Luckily, she was alone, so nopony was there to hear her.

“Oh, my dear, it is impossible to get rid of me! Your world depends on me. Without my influence, your life would simply cease to exist,” replied the strange voice.

“Whowhowho...whoareyou?” stammered the lavender pony.

“Now, how do you not even recognize your own father? I am disappointed in you, young Screwball.” said the voice sternly.

The lavender filly yelled out, “IDON’TKNOWYOU!”

“Oh, quite on the contrary, my dear. Everypony knows me, for I am the balance that keeps your world from collapsing. No matter how hard your dear Princess- [Screwball could hear the condescension in the voice]- tries to get rid of me, I will continue to exist and will always have some presence in your world.”

“b....butWhooooareyou?” replied Screwball.

“I thought you were more resourceful than this, my daughter. Ah, well. ‘Tis most likely my own fault for making you... such a screwball, as ‘twere.”

Screwball held her breath. Finally...

I am your father, the god of chaos and disharmony. I’m....”

However, before the voice could finish Ruby burst in.

“What’s with all the yelling, dear?” asked Ruby tenderly.

“it..itwasnuffin” replied Screwball.

“It didn’t sound like nothing. Are you positive you’re alright?”

“Yes Ibeok Ruby.”

“Alright, Screwy. Calm down.”

“ok...cando!”

Screwball left. She ran out of the library and headed over to the high school to meet with Tux, like normal. When she arrived, however, she couldn’t find him anywhere. He hadn’t gone to their normal meeting place outside of the school, and it was starting to get late. Screwy waited there for a little while before the voice returned to her.

“He’s not coming, he doesn’t care about you. ….. But I do.” said the voice

“thatislie.....wearebestfriends.....tilldeath,” Screwball replied angrily.

“Then where, oh where, is your beloved friend?” the voice asked.

“Hebehere.......healwayshere...”

Screwball was beginning to get worried. Just then, however, the orange colt strolled up.

“H...hey Screwy, sorry I’m late” he said. Tus seemed a little nervous.

Screwball was oddly curious. “whatwhathwhat tooksolong?”

“Well....I...ummm..I met a pony and we were just hanging out....and I lost track of the time.” Tux’s eyes shifted from side to side.

“ooookkkkk...wellwellwell whereisthisotherpony?”

“She had to go home. I’m really sorry I’m late,” Tux repeated again.

“itfine....I foundoutabout mypast.” Screwy said softly.

Tux’s eyes lost their shiftiness. “Oh, What did you find out?”

“Iwasbornandfound onanightwhen an unschedualedstormhit (atleast atleast Ithinkit wasme) andIthinkImight bedaughter of Discord too.”

Tux was stunned. The smallest fear crept into his heart as he began to wonder about his friend and what she was capable of. All of a sudden he wasn’t so hot to be with Screwball “I..I have to go,” he said.

“butbutbut...youjustgothere!” The lavender filly was shocked.

“I know, but I spent too much with that other pony, and I should probably be home. I’ll make it up to you, I promise...”

“okay” she said with a large grin on her face. “Tomorrow,wedoadventure!”

“Uh, yeah. That sounds good to me.” Tux rushed off towards his home.

The next day Screwball waited for Tux in their usual meeting spot only to find that he was late again. She thought somehtingmustbewrong...he’dneverbelatetwodaysinarow. The voice in her head, however, merely chuckled.

She decided she would go look for him, and headed into the school to check all of the classrooms. The lavender filly was about to give up when she heard a light giggling noise, followed by a deep chuckling. She thought she recognized the second laugh, and began to head toward the sound.

The reason for Tux’s absence quickly became clear. Screwy, after staring blankly for a second, broke down and ran. Tux, noticing this, let go of the mare he was with, but Screwy ignored him and continued to run. She wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop. The voice in her head laughed maniacally. The mare Tux was with came up to him and tried to pull him back into the room to continue their exotic exploits.
And Tux went.

--------------------------

A few weeks passed. No one had seen or heard from Screwball. However, the word about what she had learned about her heritage had spread to the Princess, who had long since formulated a plan for the young filly, and was now seeing it come to fruition before her eyes.

Tux was worried about his friend, but the mare he was with kept his worries at bay. He couldn’t figure out why this mare liked him so much, and why she was keeping him so preoccupied, but the truth was he didn’t much care. He continued his relationship with her while Screwball remained on the sidelines, sad and almost forgotten.

Another three months went by, and no one had seen or heard from Screwball. Celestia had all of her pawns in place. The mare she had hired was keeping Tux occupied, and Screwball had just been given a reason to return to the castle.

It was late on a Saturday night when Tux got home from an outing with his mare friend. When he got there, his mother was waiting for him with a look of worry on her face.

“What’s the matter, mother?” Tuxedo asked.

Ruby cast her eyes downwards. “It..It’s your father...he.....he just went out with his squad to find Screwball.”

Tux was shocked. “What? But...she’s been missing for months now...why..why would he be searching for her...he....he” His eyes were cast downward as his mind leapt to conclusions. ”What did she do?”

“It was by order of the princess. She came by and charged him to find Screwball.”

“But... but how can she do this? She..She can’t! I won’t allow it.” he replied as the tears started to well up in his eyes. What he had been doing hit him with as much force as a lightning bolt. He realized that he had forsaken his childhood friend for a sleazy mare.

“I can’t lose my best friend!”

Ruby reached out and drew Tux into an embrace. “It’ll be ok, Tuxedo. I promise everything will get better.”

“No...No it won’t...if I ignore her now, I’ll never be able to live with myself!” he exclaimed as he broke away from his mother grasp. “I have to go find her and protect her. It’s the only way!”
Tux left in a mad dash to find his forgotten friend.

While Tux was on the hunt for Screwball, the lavender filly was on her way back to the castle. She entered into the throne room and was greeted by a distraught Celestia and her royal battlemage, Sear.

“what...whatgoingoninhere?” she asked.

Celestia took a deep breath. “Well, my dear... I always knew this day would come.”

“whatday?..Isitmybirthdayagain?” replied the lavender pony with a look of genuine confusion.

“No,” replied the Princess. “It’s....”

Before she could finish, Sear took over. “It’s because you’re the daughter of Discord. And must disposed of.”

Celestia looked down at the floor of the palace. “We must. For the safety of the kingdom.”

The alicorn’s horn started to glow brighter and brighter, until a blinding flash filled the room. Sear, who was staring intently at the lavender filly, was caught off guard. Screwball cried out. When the room cleared there appeared to be a barrier around the edges of the room. Screwball looked up and saw the bright light still emanating from Celestia’s horn. She realized that the princess had made it impossible for her to escape.

Sear, meanwhile, took this as an opportunity to attack. He lunged forward, pointing his now glowing horn, and a fireball erupted from it. The filly noticed Sear’s aggressive action and flattened herself out on the ground in an almost cartoon-like manner. As the fireball passed over her, the immense heat from it singed her mane and she let out a loud and painful “BEEP!!”

She began to cry. The father of her used-to-be best friend was attacking her with no remorse. He was trying to kill her, and the Princess, who she considered a mother, was aiding him in doing so. All she could do was attempt to dodge the onslaught of attacks Sear threw at her. He shot fireball after fireball at her and she managed to dodge each one. She knew this was life or death. She stopped to wonder how she could escape, but in doing so, she momentarily forgot about Sear. She realized all of a sudden that the secret to escape would be to simply keep the Princess from concentrating. As she turned to look at the alicorn, a fireball took her in the back, singing off much of her mane.

“BEEEEEEEEPPPPPP!”

*******

A distraught Tuxedo was wandering around the courtyard, calling out for Screwball. When he heard the loud beep, he thought, What could be making her cry out like that?

Tux immediately started to sprint towards the castle to rescue his friend. He had gone about half the distance to the castle when his special mare friend stepped out from behind a tree and tripped the colt.

As he rose back on his hooves, he recognized her and cried out, “What in the hay did you do that for??!!”

“Because you can’t save her,” she replied sternly.

“Wh...what do you mean?” Tux asked with a puzzled look.

“She’s evil. You can’t save her,” she repeated.

“How can you say that!” the orange colt shouted. “You don’t even know her!”

“But I do know about where she comes from. And that she knows, too.”

“What does that have to do with it?” Tux asked frantically. His mind was starting to clear some, but he was still desperate.

“It has everything to do with it. Can you even think? She is Discord’s daughter. Therefore, she is a goddess. A goddess of chaos. That means she can summon Discord to enslave Equestria again. And you’d condone that?”

Her tone startled Tux. He had never heard her like this before. “She would never do such a thing! She is a good pony and an even better friend!”
Tux’s horn started to glow brightly as his anger increased. When the mare noticed his horn, she backed off some. She had been well advised of his parentage and what he could be capable of.

“Look....You know what she is....You had to have known it would have come to this,” she said.

Tux’s eyes were filled with tears. “I knew!...how could anyone have missed it....she was always different...b-but that doesn’t change anything! ......We’ll be friends until the end of time!”

Noticing how his emotions were affecting him, she stood her ground and thought He seems so emotionally weak for the son of a powerful stallion. Still, to cross him...

But before she could counter his attack, there was a bright flash and Tux was gone.

“That sneaky colt.......he teleported away,” she said as she began to slowly walk away from the castle. I have to get out of here she thought. If not Celestia will surely have my head.

Back in the castle, Screwball was still attempting to avoid the onslaught of attacks from Sear, while trying to distract Celestia enough to make an escape. As she jumped over a large fireball she saw her chance. She ran directly in front of the Princess and waited for Sear to attack her again. As expected, the mage attacked her again. As the fireball approached Screwball, she stared in amazement as time seemed to slow down until it felt like everything had stopped. It was then that she heard the familiar voice that called itself her father.

How can someone such as yourself be getting beaten by two pathetic ponies? Your plan might work, but why not use your own powers to save yourself?

The voice fell silent again, possibly watching to see what would happen. Screwball, however, now knew what she had to do. As time restarted itself she disappeared completely. She was still trapped by the Princess’ barrier, but luckily she wouldn’t be detected, thanks to the fireball. As it hurled along its path, it headed straight for the Princess who was forced to drop her barrier to protect herself. As the barrier fell, Tux, who had teleported himself just outside the room, rushed in to see what was happening.

“What’s going on in here??!” he cried out.

His father, who was beginning to tire, and the Princess both gave him a cold stare. They knew what they had to do, but they also knew the young colt was still very impressionable. To do what needed to be done in front of him....

“It was Screwball,” Sear started.

“What about her?” Tux asked as he frantically searched the room for his friend.

“She came into the throne room and attacked us. She said it was in the name of Discord,” Sear replied.

“What?” Tux exclaimed. “Th....that....that’s impossible...she...she would....No! She would never do that! I know her!.”

“But she did, young one,” the Princess replied. “She tried to kill myself and your father.”

“But..but...” Tux tried to find a reason for why the lavender filly he had befriended so long ago would do such a thing, but could find none. “She...she was....”

Tux stopped. He realized he hadn’t been with Screwball for months. She could have changed. Maybe he didn’t know her anymore. He broke out into tears and ran to his father.

“It’ll be okay, son....everything will be back to normal before you know it,” his father reassured him.

“No...It’ll never be normal again....she’s gone....and and..I couldn’t even tell her goodbye.” he cried out.

As father and son were talking, Screwball, who was now on the other side of the room, could hear everything. She knew she’d never be able to see Tux again after what the Princess and his father had just told him. She decided that her best option was to just leave, without attracting attention to herself. She’d decide what to do from there. So while more and more ponies were showing up to find out what had happened, she took her leave.

Tux, however, was never the same after this night. He spent his last years of High School in solidarity. He had decided on his own that he wouldn’t stay in Canterlot and he would not, could not follow in either of his parent’s hoof steps.
He had decided to move to Manehatten and get his college education there.

--------------------

Comments

[MrZoat]

I voted in the negative, and I suppose I owe it to you to explain why.

Firstly, the basic concept. I like it. I'd always assumed that one reason that Celestia took Twilight Sparkle as a student was because she realised that without proper guidance Twilight could have become very dangerous indeed. It would be quite in character for her to do the same to a pony with a strong tie to Discord. Thing is, Screwball doesn't really do anything chaotic in your story. Twilight turned her parents into plants. Screwball doesn't do well in school and talks oddly. Pinkie Pie has more reality warping than that. For the premise to work Screwball has to believably be a threat, although at this stage more mischievous than malicious. The idea that she hears Discord in her head is good but other than making Celestia hostile it doesn't appear to change her behaviour. I suggest that at this stage Discord should be presented as her Id in opposition to Celestia's Super-ego. Screwball should want to please her mother figure but teachers who sneeze penguins are just so darn funny.

Secondly, characterisation. Celestia is very out of character in this story. As I said, taking Screwball in is something I could see her doing. However, she would need fairly damning evidence to call in a battle mage to kill the mare if she had chosen to attept to bring her up as a normal pony. If you are depicting her as an out and out tyrant then why is she adopting Screwball in the first place? If she fears Screwball's instability why does she hire a whore to remove the only stabilising influence in Screwball's life? Why does the whore think that she will get beheaded? Given the force that Celestia can bring to bear the only reason for keeping Tuxedo away is to stop him getting hurt. Not being completely successful in that regard is hardly a beheading offense. Compare your work to the original version of Past Sins. Celestia acts unreasonably towards Nyx, but by that point the author has already established that Celestia does not respond rationally where Nightmare Moon is concerned.

Your character Tuxedo is weakly characterised. As a sort of male Twilight who has Screwball to drag him away from his books and encorage him towards more fun activities he could work but he gets his cutie mark before we see any really unique characteristics. He and Screwball like playing tricks; did he use magic to set them up? Did she? Was his fascination with the arcane triggered by watching her do something which as an earth pony she should be unable to do? Did it frighten him; ponies have been shown to be quite flighty. How did being alienated at school affect the pair of them?
Did Celestia regard the constant conflict as being brought about by Discords influence? Did she share her concerns with his father? Did the other foals know about her link to Discord?

Regarding Screwball herself, why was she found as a foal? For the few seconds of screen time she has in The Return of Harmony she appeared to be adult size. If Discords reimprisonment drained her of chaos magic and caused her to become younger what purpose is served by saying that she arrived in a storm? Having her turn up immediately after The Return of Harmony would make more sense, and makes a more apparent in universe link to Discord himself.

Lastly, show don't tell. A reasonably written scene of bullying in which it is mentioned that this is a common occurrence works better than the reader just being told that it is. Even better would be one where Screwball disturbs the bully into leaving, and another where Tuxedo scares them with magic. If they are researching Screwballs past why not show us them in an archive. Heck, combine the two. In a archive they would be isolated from adult supervision and easy prey for a bully. Or take it in the other direction and turn a learning trip into a prank planning session.

[senorpaii]

378850
First - Discord has yet to be introduced into the story. I still have more chapters to write and the next one when I get around to it is going to be about his return and is going to be return to harmony told from Screwball's point of view.
Second - You're referencing Past Sins which I honestly have never read and I choose not to influence my characters based off other stories. Everyone has their own opinion and view of canon characters so if I feel Celestia as a tyrant and not a god then that is my personal view of her. Her use of other characters serves as a sort of the government is corrupt/evil view to the story and the intent was to make you question the people you trust granted I may have done that badly because that third chapter was twice as long as the others.
Third - This is all coming from an outside role playing group and was originally intended as a background story and I decided it could work as a fairly decent story and so far it seems to be doing alright. Tux's characterization is mostly due to the events in that group and I was going to reveal more about him in later chapters.
Fourth - In my opinion she existed before Return to Harmony and she was a manifestation of that chaos that must be ever present for the world to exist. She was kept a secret from the world and was confined to the walls of the castle unless she was with Tux who the princess had trusted up to a point.
Finally the point about bullying is valid and I agree with you about the show don't tell but I thought it wasn't a very important point to the plot and I'm not the most detailed writer so I thought just telling it would work as a faster way to finish the last chapter because from the looks of it the next few chapters are going to be at least three times larger than the first two.

But thank you for your input it will be helpful in finishing the rest of this story.

[DavidPony]

reading this while listening to "daddy discord" on youtube.........

THE FUN HAS BEEN DOUBLED!

[Phantom Thorns]

I kinda agree with earthwormjim that the sudden turn on screwball was a bit uncalled for so suddenly, but really overall i could ignore it because i really enjoyed the reading, hope to read your future chapters and see what happens next

I give it 4 rainbow faces out of five

[senorpaii]

655854

Thank you...now I need to find the drive to write some more

[Phantom Thorns]

660355 i know all too well what that feels like, needs to be the right day or something just needs to motivate me sometimes

[senorpaii]

661327
I'm blaming it on a lack of school. I wrote the majority of each chapter in study hall and now that I'm out it's like....why write when there are vidja games present

[Aryn240]

KEEP WRITING FILLY

DO IT FILLY

[TheOverPoweredOne]

YOU MUST WRITE MORE. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR ALMOST A YEAR NOW. I mean... if that's ok with you