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Trick Question


Being against evil doesn't make you good.

T

Twilight Sparkle has a new experimental treatment to try out on Screwy's psychosis. A successful result could lead to a cure for dozens of similarly-afflicted ponies.

Screwy, however, has other plans. Can Twilight's magic fix her against her will?

Written for The Writeoff Association's "Illusion of Choice" contest.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 17 )

I don't know if this is happy or sad.

Definitely makes the point the Writeoff version hinted at. The light touch with the changes to the ending really feels like what this story needed — adding the context not right at the last line, but setting up for it at the beginning of the scene, and then making it obvious without hammering it in via telling. Good job on the edits!

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It is one of those stories that just is

I relate to Screwy. When I'm alone and not a living soul is present, I wonder if a hand is controlling my every move.

Wow. Conjure up an image of infanticide to restore sanity?

I need to go shudder under a shower now.

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Well, I don't think infanticide is exactly right; it was a dog, and the mother didn't kill her puppy, she just ate it. But disturbing, I'll grant. :twilightsmile:

While this is an interesting story, it's also really fucking depressing.

Poor, poor Screwy...

As said before, this brought the point across better than the write-off entry. And as life, it is a bit sad, a bit happy and a lot messy. Thumbs up.

This story made the top of my ballot in the last writeoff and the small changes you made to fill out the story really add another dimension to it. That was grim and incredibly melancholy. Fantastic work.

Great. Now where's the sequel?

Despite how dark this is, the story is really quite beautiful - or haunting, if you prefer.

Rereading this story because I saw it in the related bar of another fic.

There's a lot of parts to this that makes me squirm.

Twilight wants to help Screwball, and possibly make a name for herself. Nurse Redheart wants to help Screwball. Their interests are both aligned and opposed. But, not matter what, Screwball doesn't get a choice in this.

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Yes, the choice is always the difficult part in mental health with psychotic individuals. Do you do what would benefit somepony, under evidence that they'll appreciate it in the future? Or do you allow them to suffer—from your perspective—because it's what they want right now?

Minor point, this is actually Screwy (fan name: Screwloose), not Screwball. Screwball is the name for Discord's daughter from S2E1-2.

Screwball has a tag, despite being a sight gag that lasted less than three seconds and probably not intended to be an actual pony. Screwy has appeared in two episodes, both nearly as brief. I petitioned to have Screwy get a tag, but my petition was declined. I suspect they have a similar number of stories (and there are even stories where Screwball turns out to be the Discorded version of Screwy).

I remember reading this a long time ago but I decided to reread it today because it suddenly seems a lot more relevant to my life. Clearly it made an impact on me since I'm still thinking about it years later. Reading it again definitely made me feel... something complicated that I'm not sure how to describe. But that's good, I think.

Very interesting concept.

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