There was no doubt about it. Screwball proved to be a difficult baby.
A unicorn or a pegasus filly would have been easier, despite their magical surges and eagerness to fly. The daughter of pure chaos had that and more.
While her magic satisfied her hunger, a task that the parents were relieved of, the infant did not fully understand the capability of her powers. A single thought from her simple mind would cause something extraordinary to happen. One day, Fluttershy had the misfortune to come into the nursery and find her child gnawing on the bars of her crib, which had been turned to licorice.
Discord would never forget the night he made the most shocking discovery. A month after bringing their filly home, the couple woke in the middle of the night hearing her wails.
"Your turn," Fluttershy said wearily.
With a groan, Discord teleported to the nursery and gasped when he saw the crib empty.
"Screwy?!" he called desperately, using his nickname for her. "Screwy, where...?"
He heard a sinister laugh and looked up to see Screwball floating (floating!) above his head.
"Oh heck," he mumbled.
He should have guessed this would happen. He jumped up and swung his arms at her, oh, but she was as stubborn as her father and easily dodged him.
"Get down here, young lady!" he demanded.
Then he jumped so high that his head crashed into the ceiling, his antler and horn leaving him stuck. Screwball snickered, but gasped when she saw the angry look on her father's face. She took that as her cue to flee.
"Oh, so that's how you want to play it, huh? Come back here!"
He flapped his wings furiously as he chased her around the room. For an infant, she was quite fast and sneaky. She flew beneath the crib and he collided into its side, thanks to his horn and antler, once again. He chose to go around and finally got a grip on her.
"Gotcha, you little scamper!" Discord shouted triumphantly.
The filly tried to struggle out of his grasp, but her father's hands were too strong. At last, she gave up with a pout. He laughed as he stood and held her up.
"Now to get you back to bed so your Daddy and Mommy can get some sleep," he cooed.
Then he took a sniff of the air and cringed. Screwball snickered again.
"But first, some pony needs a change." He sighed. "Ugh, I hate this part!"
He snapped his fingers and the filly's dirty diaper disappeared, a clean diaper replacing it.
"Who knew raising a foal would be so much work?"
He grunted as he set her down into her crib. She crossed her hooves and glared at him with her spiral eyes. He began to wonder if she had inherited her mother's Stare.
"Don't give me that look, little missy!" he ordered, pointing his finger at her. "You may have chaotic power at your disposal, but I'm the Lord of Chaos and I make the rules around here, got it? Playtime is over! Now get to sleep before I make you sleep!"
The filly suddenly broke into tears, causing Discord to freeze. That had been louder than he had intended.
"Please, please don't cry!"
She opened her mouth and wailed at full volume. It was not that he hated his daughter or vice versa, but when it came to her crying, he was helpless. He did not have the ability to calm down any living creature like Fluttershy. So far, she had been the only one to handle situations like this.
"Please!" he begged. "You'll wake your mother!"
He had to get her to quiet down and go to sleep. He had tried a sleep spell on her ages ago, but the filly had developed a resistance to most of his magic, he had discovered. A trait she had received from her mother, no doubt. He considered fetching his wife to take over from here, but he did not want to rouse her from bed. She had been working harder than ever this past month, taking care of the baby along with her pets.
Discord decided he at least had to try to calm his daughter down. First, he considered what was making her cry. He had already changed her diaper and she clearly was not hungry, because she could handle that herself. He considered getting a laugh instead of a cry.
"Hey, Screwy!" he exclaimed. "Watch this!"
In a flash, he was on top a unicycle juggling a pie, a boot and an anvil. Screwball stopped crying and watched this act with curiosity. The objects then slipped out of her father's hands and landed on his head: first the boot, then the pie, then the anvil.
"Ta-da!"
She blinked for a moment and then cried again.
"Sheesh," he muttered. "Tough crowd." He knelt to her bedside. "For goodness sake, what do you want from me, kid?!"
His outburst did not make it any better. He slapped himself in the face. What would Fluttershy do in this predicament? In the time that he had known her, he still had trouble being gentle with other creatures. He thought the problem was that others were too absorbed with his appearance to give him a chance, but then he realized that the problem might be him not giving them a chance, or rather kindness a chance.
Maybe he should give it a chance now. He thought about what Fluttershy would use to calm the baby down and then snapped his fingers.
"A lullaby! Is that what you want?"
The filly seemed to understand him for she stopped wailing for a bit and held out her hooves with a whimper, indicating that she wanted him to hold her as well. He carefully scooped her in his arms. She was so tiny and soft. He would not be surprised if she grew up to be as beautiful as her mother. Thank the heavens she had inherited that part of her.
He cradled her gently and attempted to sing the lullaby Fluttershy would always use:
"Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed..."
He trailed off as she began crying again. He rolled his eyes.
"Everyone's a critic."
Unfortunately, he was not as gifted in singing as his wife was, mostly because he had not had much practice. Besides, the song was not in his key. Maybe he should try another song, but he did not know that many. Perhaps he should make one up. The first line he sung came straight from his thoughts:
"Please do not cry, my dear
Your Daddy is so very here..."
She paused a moment to listen to the haunting tune. Discord glanced down and saw that his cheesy song was working, so he continued:
"And if any pony
Causes you any harm or fear..."
He thought about what he would do if anything happened to his daughter.
"Then I will bring them pain
And drown them all in chocolate rain
'Cause I...am your daddy, Discord
And you...are a piece of me."
The filly giggled in delight, clearly enjoying the song. She clapped her tiny hooves for more. Discord smiled down at her.
"Oh simple spawn of mine
Without you, I would be so lost
I will stick by your side
No matter what the tragic cost
Our crazed imagined thoughts
Are what give you and me our strength
'Cause you...are my daughter, Screwball
And you're...gonna sleep right now."
The lullaby took its effect as Screwball let out a yawn and closed her eyes. He gazed in awe as she innocently sucked her hoof. He would have given her a pacifier, but he knew it was useless, considering she had eaten the last three. So he laid her in her crib, careful not to wake her. He picked up her stuffed dragon Sir Fangs-a-lot and slid it under her free foreleg. He then gently tugged the quilt Apple Bloom had made over her small body.
Smiling, he leaned forward and lightly kissed the filly on the forehead. Perhaps he was not such a bad father after all.
When he teleported back into bed, he announced to his wife, "Our baby can fly."
Fluttershy sighed, still half asleep. "Of course, she can."
Despite the complications, Discord and Fluttershy loved their newborn filly. She had a contagious laugh that was a combination of joy and sneakiness, much like her father's. Her powers, while making her difficult to deal with, were actually quite entertaining. Once she had learned to teleport, she and Discord took the game of peek-a-boo to new heights. She would often get restless, but Fluttershy was able to calm her down with her tenderness. When that did not work, she would use the Stare on her. Discord was grateful that the filly had not inherited his immunity.
The biggest issue was finding a babysitter. While Pinkie was the most eager, not even she could handle the filly's unpredictability. Rainbow Dash had to rest up for her delivery, Twilight was too busy on her studies and Rarity was too occupied with her store. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had tried, but not even three normal ponies could control this powerful, ecstatic infant.
Applejack proved to be the best babysitter, with the assistance of Spike. As she had to raise Apple Bloom from infancy, she had the most experience, though her sister could not do magic. Even though it was a pain searching for her whenever she disappeared, she would not lose her patience and actually found ways to calm the filly down. The cowgirl considered her quite adorable.
"I wish we had one," she had once said while cradling her.
She had forgotten that Spike had been standing right next to her. "What?"
Screwball was excited about her powers, not realizing how unusual it was for a filly like her, and she got the most excited whenever Dinky was over. As Fluttershy had promised, she and Derpy would bring their daughters together for play dates. Screwball so adored her little playmate and was fascinated with her funny yellow eyes. She would stare at them for ages and wonder what the unicorn was looking at with one eye or the other.
She would amuse her playmate with her powers, making their toys levitate and circle in the air. Dinky would clap her hooves in pleasure. The only magical surges the unicorn had had were when her pacifier, the same one Screwball had given her when they met in the hospital, was out of reach.
When Rainbow Dash's twins arrived, Screwball was given two additional playmates. They were fraternal twins, a boy named Thunder Dash and a girl named Lightning Dash. They both had their father's light blue coats and their mother's violet eyes. Thunder's mane was streaked with blue, black and purple, while Lightning's was red, orange and yellow.
Screwball took an immediate interest in their wings, finding them similar, yet smaller, to her mother's. The two could fly before they could walk. Screwball was a little over a year old when she had discovered this and was just learning to walk on four legs herself. She was able to fly at their age too, but she noticed that she did not have wings. She also realized that their eyes looked in the same direction, but she already knew that Dinky's eyes were unique.
Some point at this age, she met a pony she had never seen before and jumped back at the sight of her. Her short curly mane was purple with streaks of white, her coat was a light pink, but it was her eyes that interested Screwball the most. They were different. They were nothing like Dinky's. She seemed to have no blackness in her eye, only a purple swirl.
Screwball reached out to touch the filly and at the same time, the filly reached out to touch her. Their hooves met and Screwball flinched at the smooth texture she was feeling. It was not a hoof, it was glass. Her parents had already observed that Screwball seemed quite intelligent and understanding for a foal her age and it did not take long for her to conclude that the strange filly was indeed her.
That was when she knew.
Fluttershy found her daughter sitting in front of the full-length mirror and flew down to her.
"So there you are," she said, reaching her hooves out to her. "I've been looking..."
"Differ," Screwball uttered.
Her mother blinked in surprise. She had gurgled a few words before, her first one being 'Dinky,' much to Discord's displeasure (he had hoped it would be 'dada'), but this was new.
"What did you say?"
The foal pointed to the mirror. "Differ."
Her hoof then tapped at the reflection of her eyes.
As Screwball grew older and developed better speech, she began noticing other things that were different about her. Her diet was the first indicator. Her friends always stared at her when she drank her sip cup instead of the milk inside it. Her playmates, their mothers and her own mother did not do the things she did. Objects did not appear out of nowhere on their command, nor did they just come to them from afar. It happened to Dinky, but not as much. She noticed her father did the same things as her frequently, even more often.
Ah yes, her dad. She was only starting to realize how different he was from the other ponies: his size, his shape, his appearance, his behavior. She only saw the contrast whenever her mother or one of the other ponies was next to him.
When she was four, she finally approached her parents about this. It was after they read her a bedtime story that she asked.
"Mommy, Daddy?"
"Yes, dear?" her mother responded softly.
"Why am I different?"
Discord and Fluttershy paused, their smiles disappearing as they shared a look.
"You're not different, honey," her father insisted. "You're just...unique."
"Like your friend Dinky," Fluttershy added.
"She don't do magic," Screwball said. "Not like mine. Twins have no magic. None. Why me? Why my eyes different?"
Her mother glanced to the side. "Sweetie..."
The filly pointed to Discord. "Daddy very different."
He winced. "Screwy, I think you..."
"Why?"
The couple looked at each other again and sighed simultaneously.
"Yes, my love," Fluttershy said. "You and Daddy are different. As you may have noticed, I am a pegasus, your father is a draconequus."
Screwball tilted her head. "Like Uncle Spike?"
Her mother laughed. "No, honey. A draconequus. They are wonderful, majestic creatures with incredible powers that can bend reality."
Discord put his paw over his heart. "My dear, you flatter me! Yet your flattery is an understatement. I am the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony! It is my duty to make the world less boring with my little...quirks. After all, what would this world be without chocolate rain?"
Screwball squealed and kicked her hooves happily in agreement.
"Anyway," Fluttershy continued, "it is very unusual for two different creatures to marry, so when your father and I fell in love, no pony really approved. We found a way through however and had you. You look like a pony, but you have your father's powers. There's never been such a pony born before."
"What your mother's trying to say is," Discord interrupted, leaning forward to brush his daughter's hair, "you are special, because you are a product of two species, two creatures who love each other very much despite their differences."
He smirked as he wrapped his tail around Fluttershy and pulled her closer. She was startled at first but then laughed and kissed him on the snout.
"Your father's right," she said to the filly.
"Well, duh!" Discord huffed. "Of course I am!"
She nudged him playfully in the ribs with her elbow. "Don't you worry about being different, honey. Your eyes, your powers are what make you special."
The draconequus leaned forward. "And there's no pony more special than our little Screwball!"
The filly smiled, assuring them that their words had helped. After her parents had kissed her goodnight and turned out the lights, Screwball closed her eyes and sighed contently.
Special. That's what she was. Special.