Past Mistakes and Future Hopes

by The Derpy Muffin

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life
Length: 5333

When Babs is feeling down, it takes the least likely of characters to help her realize that's she's not alone in the world, no matter how much it may seem that way.

Babs Seed was never really one for a sob story. But one day, the last one she would expect to sympathize with her takes it upon themselves to perhaps show her a new way of looking at things.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-02 07:20:02 UTC

Their Side of the Story

"One strawberry milkshake, please."

The clerk at the counter nodded, and moved to the milkshake machine to fulfill the order.  A filly stood at the opposite side of the counter, having to draw herself up to full size and prop her forehooves on the counter to see over it.  She blew her mane out of her face, waiting for her drink to be ready.  A few moments passed, and at last the clerk slid the light pink milkshake across the counter.  The tall cup had a glass handle like that of a basket built into it that arched over the cup and could be folded down to one side, making it easier for non-unicorn ponies to carry it in their mouths.

The filly tossed the required amounts of bits on the counter and trudged away, plunking down at a small table near the door.  She set her milkshake gently on the tabletop and played with the straw absentmindedly with her tongue, gazing blankly out the large window right beside her table.  Again, her breath caused her mane to fly up for a second.  Outside, the sidewalks of Manehattan were blanketed with snow, which had been evidently trotted over many times, easy to see from its flat and dirty appearance.  Any snow that had been on the streets had been cleared away immediately so the taxi-cab ponies wouldn't have to face more angry customers complaining about traffic than they already had to.  Foals wearing earmuffs, scarves, snow boots, and other attire designed for snowy weather played joyfully in their front yards.  The filly knew their parents probably forbade them from going out on their own; it was way too dangerous in a huge bustling city such as this for a foal.  Who knew what they might face?

Something like whatever that thing is, she thought to herself, peering at something across the street from the café she was currently in.  She squinted at it in hopes of identification.  It was a lost cause; she had absolutely no idea what this strange creature was.  The thing was tall and slim, looming over even adult ponies at about three times their height.  Due to this, it was visible over crowds covering the sidewalks, allowing it to stay in her line of vision.  It walked on its back legs with ease, swinging its front limbs as it went by. Two differently-shaped horns protruded from its head.  Obviously it wasn't a pony, the filly could see.  But what was it?  Squinting, she spotted two wings that seemed to have no chance of supporting the creature's body weight on the thing's back.  The filly was stumped, and finally took her first sip of her milkshake hoping to get some brain power from it.  All her brain got, however, was a very unwelcome freeze.

Cringing and pressing a hoof to the roof of her mouth, the young pony recovered after a few moments.  She glanced back out the window.  The thing was gone.  Somehow, this relieved her; the creature, for some reason, seemed to emanate an ominous vibe that she couldn't quite put her hoof on.  It didn't feel evil, really, more like when an annoying kid grabs your favorite CD collection and makes off with it.  Something like that.

Despite getting this odd sense of dread from the even odder creature, she continued to ponder its identity.  In the back of her mind, she knew she was doing one of her age-old self-defense mind tricks.  Focusing solely on things that didn't really matter to anypony seemed to help her block out thoughts that she didn't want to be processing.  It was a time-waster, but it made her feel better.  At least, for the time being.

Suddenly, a pony wearing a dark cloak that covered all their body features other than a light brown muzzle approached the table.  The filly shifted uncomfortably on her chair, but otherwise maintained her composure, determined not to show fear.  That would be a definite sign of weakness.

"Well, good afternoon there, little filly."  The pony's voice came as a shock; she had been expecting an aged rasp, but instead she received a light yet suave male sound.  The voice was intriguing, but still the filly knew better than to foolishly give out her trust to strangers.

"Do ya mind?  I'm tryin' to enjoy my milkshake," she said firmly, pulling her drink closer and sipping it pointedly.

The stallion didn't leave.  "Well, yes, yes, of course, and I respect that entirely, my dear.  But maybe you could spare me a bit of your time today."

She narrowed her eyes.  "How about…no."

The stallion scoffed.  "Fine.  Ruin the fun and make me introduce myself."  There was a snapping sound, and the stallion's cloak disappeared.  In fact, the stallion himself vanished as well.  In his place was that tall strange creature the filly had seen across the street.

The filly forgot her tact for a moment and her eyes widened, ears flattened, and jaw dropped.  Then she quickly remembered herself and snapped back to her passive expression.  Still, she studied the creature's weird form.  One of his horns was an antler, the other a goat's.  One wing was a bat's, the other a bird's.  He had a goat leg as well as a lizard-like one.  His dragon-like tail flicked about.  His right lion paw and left eagle claw were folded across his chest in attempted smugness.  A single long fang was visible from his wide introductory grin.  He obviously expected her to be impressed.

"What, are you some kinda freak show or somethin'?"  The young pony rolled her eyes and blew her mane.  "Never mind, I don't care."

The creature scoffed, pressing his paw to his chest and widening his eyes in offense.  "What?  You mean you don't recognize me?  I'm Discord, master and lord of chaos?  Helloooo?"  The last part was spoken directly into her ear.

The filly frowned and shoved Discord away.  "Personal space, buddy.  And to answer your question, no, I don't recognize you.  Sorry to rain on your parade.  Now can you leave me alone so I can drink my milkshake in peace?"

"Well, honestly, I don't see why you can't just sip your drink while I'm talking, and listen at the same time."  Discord's face became surprisingly serious.  He snapped his eagle claw, and a large armchair was conjured up, to the filly's slight surprise.  She'd never personally met a creature with magical abilities other than unicorns.  Discord pushed the chair closer to the table so it wouldn't be in the way of anypony, and sat upon it.  "You see, I'm here in Manehattan for a visit, because my friend Applejack over in Ponyville was telling me how, now how did she put it?  Ah, yes, frou-frouey all the ponies here acted all the time.  So I simply came up here to see if it was true.  But - "

"Wait, wait, wait just a minute…Discord, you said, right?"  After the draconequus nodded, the young pony went on, "You know an Applejack in Ponyville?   Does she live on a farm called Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Why, yes, yes she does."  Discord raised an eyebrow suspiciously.  "Why?  Do you know her, little filly?"

"Know her?  She's my cousin!"  she nearly shouted.  Ponies at nearby tables gave her funny looks, and she shrank back into her chair.  "How do you know her?" she asked, hushing her voice.

"My, my!  What a coincidence.  Applejack is a dear friend of mine, but she never told me about any little filly cousins.  I never caught your name, by the way."

"Babs.  Babs Seed," the filly said stiffly, and blew her mane.

"Seed, hmm?  Figures…" Discord mumbled to himself.  "Anyways, as I was saying before you interrupted me, I was just walking across the street from here, and I couldn't help but notice with my spectacular - " Discord conjured a monocle in front of his eye, " - vision…get it?  Spec?"  Instead of a laugh, Discord received a spit wad to the face.

Seeing it was tinged pink, he licked the wad.  "Mm, strawberry!  But I must say I prefer mint myself."  He tossed it with perfect aim across the room into a trash can, which somehow shook with the impact of an explosion, causing nearby ponies to jump in their seats.  To her mortification, Babs cracked a smile, then wiped it off her face in an instant.

Babs thought Discord might have returned the smile for a split moment when he turned back around, but she wasn't sure.  "I noticed that you were looking a bit down in the doldrums."  A bass drum appeared, drumsticks magically floating and tapping a slow, melancholy rhythm on the drum.  A snap later and they disappeared.  "So I came here disguised to help cheer you up!"

Babs didn't react to this statement right away.  After all, to regard this stranger at all went against what she had been taught all her life, growing up in a city like Manehattan.  Yet there was something different about this guy.  Babs could feel it.  "I think I remember you now," she said, and Discord lit up, his eyes widening, paw and claw clasping together in hope, fang displayed in a grin, and body rising - literally rising - up towards the ceiling before crashing down again and landing on the cushioned armchair to hear the rest.  Babs managed to fight down the smile this time.  "Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sis, told me about you in one of your letters.  Said you planted some sort of vines that took over Ponyville, and that when this giant centaur guy named Tirek came, you helped him rise to power and almost brought about the fall of Ponyville and possibly Equestria."  Babs blew her mane out of her face, slamming her hooves on the table and leaning forward threateningly.  "And you expect me to trust you?"

Discord said nothing, simply stared at the angry filly dead straight in the eye.  His lips pressed together.  "I didn't really want it to come to this, but I suppose I knew all along it would happen anyway," he finally said, and sighed.

"What do ya mean?" Babs questioned.

"I know I've done some things that were a little naughty in the past," Discord admitted. Upon seeing the filly's glare, he hastily added, "Okay, really awful.  Horrible, evil, all that.  About the vines, I planted those when I was still pure evil, many years ago, much before you were born, longer ago than even Luna's banishment to the moon.  Somehow, the Tree of Harmony's magic only just then was weakened enough for the seeds to break through and grow into huge vines that took over Ponyville. I didn't mention this before the six girls gave up their Elements of Harmony because I missed my old chaotic ways, and wanted just a little taste of it again.  My vines did look fantastically chaotic, after all!" he said wistfully, then straightened.  "I honestly didn't know they'd have to give up their elements, but it was like a bonus for me, ensuring that I couldn't be turned to stone again."  Discord paused again, studying Babs' face.  She seemed genuinely interested in his story, so he continued.  "My dear Fluttershy succeeded in containing any evil plans I seemed to be wanting to coming up with, and eventually I decided that if any other evil were to present itself in Equestria, I would be there for my friends to help them vanquish it.  Why?  Because that's what friends do.  And those six ponies are the ones who showed me that friendship is truly magic, and that it's not just a phrase used to entrance little girls."  Babs frowned down at her hooves, contemplating Discord's words.  Friendship…?

"Alas, I was not able to hold to my vow," Discord said, hanging his head shamefully.  Babs was utterly shocked; she'd only known him about fifteen minutes, but already she'd gotten used to his pompous and cheerfully random behavior.  Now he was put down like a schoolfilly who had just found out the huge snowstorm coming up had changed its mind, and that school was still in session.  I would know, Babs thought to herself.

"It was when that evil Tirek showed up.  I am sorry to say, when I found him he managed to tempt me into forming an alliance with him, which I did.  He claimed that friendship was but 'another form of imprisonment'.  I believed him, because I had been feeling so trapped and confined by having to restrict my old chaotic ways.  You have no idea how hard that is after thousands of years of being free to spread chaos without a care in the world!  So, I aided him in absorbing the magic of all the ponies in Equestria, be it unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony, so when they were drained he went after the four alicorns.  But the princesses had already transferred their magic to Twilight Sparkle, who had gone into hiding.  Originally Tirek didn't even know she existed, but I…I revealed her location.  Then that traitor stole my magic, as well as Twilight's friends' magic, and imprisoned all of us."  Discord's voice broke.  "I…I'll never forget the look on poor Fluttershy's sobbing face, just after I betrayed them.  Betrayed her.  It was all thanks to her that I was reformed, now knew the magic of friendship, and how do I repay her?  By just standing by while that beast drained her.  I backstabbed her.  I'll never forgive myself for it.  When Tirek stole my magic, it was the most betrayed I had ever felt in my life.  I'd never made alliances before, and my friends were really the first ones I'd ever had.  When Tirek backstabbed me, I felt like he had turned his back on me, left me without a second thought.  But again, I should have known better than to expect anything more from that monster.  Reflecting on it now, I know that that's how Fluttershy and the others felt when I had done the same to them just a minute before.  Only, when I did it, it must have been much, much worse.  You know why?"  Babs shook her head, just wanting Discord to go on.  "Because I was their friend.  Tirek was just a battle ally to me, nothing more.  But those ponies were my friends.  They helped me see the light of friendship and put me on the right path in life, away from being evil and wanting to wreak havoc and bring about chaos like before.  It…must've hurt a lot for them.  I think their pain then is like my pain now."  He placed his paw on his chest, looking at Babs despairingly.  "It affects my heart and fills me with an awful, awful feeling of despair.  But unlike them, I deserve my pain.  They didn't.  How could I do such a thing, when I claimed to be reformed?

"Tirek went on to seek out Twilight, they fought, her library was destroyed…" Discord dabbed at his eyes again, "…and eventually they reached a stalemate.  So Tirek offered Twilight her friends in exchange for her alicorn magic, which she agreed to.  Her friends were handed over from the bubbles in which they were trapped in, but I was left in mine."  Seeing Babs' confused face, he explained, "The reason he even took me there to the battle site for the trade at all if he didn't even expect Twilight to want me back is because he wanted to torture me further.  Remind me that I was a heartless fool for believing in friendship, make me believe I didn't deserve to be wanted by anypony for my betrayal, let alone ponies as great as Twilight and her friends.  He was right.  But Twilight demanded my release anyway, calling me a friend without moment's hesitation.  I was never so touched in all my life.  I had betrayed her, and still she called me a friend?  Tirek consented, surprisingly, and I immediately apologized to Fluttershy, but she wouldn't look me in the eye.  The pain I felt wrenched and tore my heart to pieces at that point.

"The only thing I could do at that point to try to help and perhaps ease the pain I knew I deserved was to give Twilight the necklace Tirek had given me as a sign of his supposed 'gratitude and loyalty'.  I gave it to Twilight as a sign of my genuine friendship, that after that point I knew I would never let break again.  I would be a better friend, and I meant it that time.

"Twilight and her friends ended up defeating Tirek, banishing him back to Tartarus," Discord finished.  "They used some sort of…new-fangled 'rainbow power' to do such."  Discord glanced around mock-nervously, then leaned in towards Babs and whispered behind a cupped claw, "But honestly, I think those girly designs looked just awful on them.  I mean, Applejack looked like she had just ran through a room full of needles, and all six of them appeared to have let loose on them a bunch of crazy foals armed with highlighters and stickers."

Babs giggled openly, then covered her mouth with a hoof.

The corner of Discord's mouth turned up slightly.  His sudden cheeriness was certainly a change from his long emotional speech, and Babs felt that he did that purposefully to try to enlighten the moment, make it seem not so dreary.  To deny the truth…just for a moment.  But nopony could run away from their mistakes.  Babs knew this.  She blew her mane yet again.

"But seriously, I have never felt so bad about a life choice as I did then.  I can't believe that Twilight and her friends would still want to be friends with me after all that, but it just goes to show how powerful friendship can really be, I guess.  I just feel bad that I gave them the knowledge that they have a friend who is tainted with a dark past that involved me hurting them.  That's my pain, and I know I deserve it, but…" Discord propped his chin on his paw, elbow resting on the table.  "It…hurts," he improvised lamely.

There was a long silence, in which Discord fiddled with his claw and paw, suddenly unable to look at Babs.  Said filly watched the draconequus' miserable face, the trace of tears in the corners of his eyes.  Babs didn't know a whole lot about this guy, but from Apple Bloom's letters and his arrival here in person, she had a pretty good image.  She couldn't believe how fast he went from headstrong, boisterous clown to wallowing, down-in-the-dumps sad sack.  Reviewing his tale in her head, she realized that she had surprisingly a lot in common with this guy.  She never would've guessed, but maybe she wasn't alone.  Discord may have set up a silly, carefree façade to fool outside ponies, but on the inside, he was hurting more than anypony could ever imagine.

Finally, Babs cleared her throat and spoke.  "Ya know, I haven't known you all that long, but I still didn't think you'd be the kind of guy to have all of this buried inside him.  Do ya…keep it all bottled up?"

Discord said nothing for a moment.  "I suppose yes, I have been keeping my feelings bottled up.  Until now, that is."  A glass bottle appeared in his eagle claw.  He hurled the bottle to the ground, and it shattered into tiny pieces.  Babs instinctively jumped back in her chair upon the sudden impact, and ponies at tables near them did the same, either glaring at Discord incredulously or shrinking in fear.  Upon closer inspection, Babs saw colorful plastic letters amongst the shards of broken glass.  Arranging them in her head, she realized they spelled out "feelings".

With a snap of Discord's claw and flash of bright white light, the shards and letters disappeared.  Luckily, nopony had been harmed.  Babs blinked and stared at Discord.  "Um…was that necessary?"

"With time, my dear little filly, you'll learn to control your word choice around me."  Random words made of more plastic letters began to spin around Discord's head, then they were gone.  "You'll also learn…that there's always more to a pony - or in this case, draconequus - than what appears on the surface.  And that no matter how malicious that pony, draconequus, whatever sentient life form, may seem, you'll see what more there is to their story if you bother to find out."

Babs gazed at Discord, really attempting to grasp the meaning of his words.  She enunciated to herself what she had thought before: that she and Discord had more in common than she ever thought they could.  They had just met, after all.  But that just went to show that what he was saying was true: that there was more to almost everyone that what met the eye.

"I think we've spoken more than enough about me," Discord said.  "It's time to talk about you, which is what I came here for in the first place.  Tell me, why were you looking so dejected?"

Babs sighed, her head and ears drooping but eyes still pointed up at Discord.  Once more, she blew her mane out of her face.  "Well…"

"Hold on a second there, Babs.  You ignored your milkshake throughout my entire story.  Look, it's all melted now," Discord said, pointing with his paw at the cup.  Babs turned her attention to it with a shock; she had actually forgotten its presence.  Sure enough, the pink liquid was now watery and appeared much less appetizing.

"Here, allow me to take care of that for you," Discord told her, and with a snap of his eagle claw the drink was not only thick again, it was also refilled to the top of the cup.

Babs' eyes widened.  "Uh, thanks," she mumbled.

"Don't mention it.  Now, you were saying?"

Babs blew her mane out of her face.  "Well, I visited Ponyville a while ago, to get away from the bullyin' at my old school.  But when I came to Sweet Apple Acres to stay for a couple weeks, as soon as I arrived two bullies named Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon showed up and started makin' fun of me, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, 'cause all of us are blank flanks.  I couldn't believe that I wasn't safe from bullies even in a small town like Ponyville.  I couldn't take it anymore, so I joined Diamond and Silver and started teasin' the Cutie Mark Crusaders too.  I wasn't a bully before I went there, I just knew what to do from what the bullies at my old school did.  I know it was wrong, but at the time it felt good to be on the other end of the stick for once."

Babs paused, glancing at Discord.  He had his chin propped up on both paw and claw now, and his elbows rested against the table.  He nodded, urging her to go on.

"I feel bad about it now…I destroyed their parade float, stole Apple Bloom's bed for myself, made Sweetie cry, took their clubhouse…their new float, their milkshakes…" Babs suddenly frowned at her milkshake and pushed it away.  "I was just plain awful to them.  Then finally they built a new, cooler float, which I took durin' the parade.  Thing is, this float was rigged to hurl me off a cliff with it - not enough to kill me, of course, there was a huge puddle of mud at the bottom," Babs quickly said, easing Discord's shocked expression.  "They just wanted to humiliate me.  But while I approached the cliff, later I learned Applejack told them about me gettin' bullied at school, and they realized that I had only been bullyin' them so I wouldn't get bullied myself.  So they caught up and tackled me out of the float as it went down the cliff, and ended up getting mud-splattered themselves.

"We all came clean after that, we agreed to start over, and they even recruited me as their fourth member of the CMC.  They made me a Cutie Mark Crusader so I might get my cutie mark and stop getting bullied so much, so I wouldn't have to bully others ever again.  In fact, I even started a Manehattan branch of the CMC, so I could help other fillies get their cutie marks and not get bullied like me.  So that…so that nopony else makes the same mistakes I did."

Babs fidgeted, shuffling her hooves.  Peering closer and pushing newly conjured glasses nearer to his eyes, Discord noticed the filly was fighting back tears.

"I-I just wish I had my cutie mark already," Babs said, shifting her two-shaded berry-colored tail to cover her mark-less flank.  "That way, I wouldn't've gotten bullied by Diamond and Silver, and maybe I could've stood up to them and defended the CMC, and I wouldn't have joined Diamond and Silver, and the CMC wouldn't want to get back at me even though I know I deserved it…and I-I…" Babs' voice cracked and she hid her face behind her hooves, losing control over her tear ducts.  She shook with sobs.

Suddenly, she felt warmth on her back.  She peeked out from behind her hooves, and witnessed Discord with his lion arm around her, the paw patting her foreleg.  "There, there," he whispered consolingly.  His tone was gentle and understanding.

Babs attempted to swipe her tears away with a hoof, but as the latter was also wet, it came to no avail.  A tissue materialized, falling into the filly's persimmon hoof.  The tissue was patterned with Discord's face displaying a ridiculous grin, with his lion paw shown giving a thumbs up.  Babs managed to crack a smile, then dried her face properly, crumpling the tissue when she was done.

"Hey, what did you do that for?  You could've had me autograph that!  You would've been a millionaire!"  Discord protested.

Babs chuckled, the lump in her throat beginning to melt.  "I don't think so, buddy."

"Well, fine.  Be that way," Discord huffed, crossing his mismatched arms and pointing his nose into the air.  If Sweetie Belle was more detailed in her letters, Babs would've known that Discord was performing a fairly accurate impression of the unicorn filly's sister.  "But don't blame me when ponies start hankering after my autographs and you won't have one to pawn."

Babs couldn't help but giggle.  "In your dreams, draconequus," she replied, blowing her mane.

The pair had a good, hearty laugh.  It elated them both after their lengthy speeches and tears shed.  While Babs had never poured her heart out like this before, having someone there that could truly relate to her made it all seem better.  Like maybe, just maybe there was still hope for her.

"I noticed that you blow your mane a lot," Discord mentioned.

Babs did as such yet again.  "Yeah?"

"You've told me a lot about yourself today.  There's a lot going on under your surface.  I feel as though blowing your mane is part of the 'tough city pony' image you've set up for yourself.  To hide your pain.  Like...like I do."

Babs hesitated, then nodded.  "I guess."

Discord studied the filly's face.  Babs gazed back, twiddling her hooves.  Unsaid words passed between them.

"In your story, you mentioned that you wanted to feel what it was like on the other side of the stick, correct?"  Discord asked.  Babs nodded, and a slim twig appeared on the table with a flash.  One end of the twig branched off into several smaller twigs, obviously fragile but still enough to poke somepony if one wasn't careful.  The other end was full of pockmarks and splintery areas, with small holes where insects seemed to have burrowed into.

"When you bullied the CMC, you were on this end," Discord explained, pointing at the spiky part.  "But when you were being bullied, at your school and in Ponyville, you were at this end," he said, gesturing to the damaged end.  "Now, you didn't like either end very much, now did you?"

"No," Babs admitted.  "Either I was sufferin' or makin' others suffer."

"Right.  So when you joined the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you created a new stick," Discord said, and conjured up a second twig with one side smooth and flawless, and the other extremely damaged, with insect holes, splinters, and branched-off twigs as well.

"I don't think I need to explain what this end is," Discord stated.  "But this part, this ruined end, this is the 'not friends' side.  Do not ever go to that side, you hear me?  You'll regret it."

The draconequus was intensely boring into Babs' eyes, her soul, with his yellow and red eyes that gazed darkly at her.  Babs put her hooves over her head and pressed against the seat of her chair.  "Stop that, you're freakin' me out!"  she shouted.

Discord finally averted his gaze to the window.  Babs sat properly again and followed his line of vision.  Crowds of ponies outside were hustling to finish their business so they could go home and get their well-earned rest.  There was a long, long line for the taxi cabs, as usual.  Every now and then two ponies would run into each other and start yelling angrily.  Discord frowned, but Babs remained passive.  This was completely normal for this city, after all.

"The point is, Babs, don't be so harsh on yourself," Discord advised, not turning from the window.

"W-what?  But I deserve to be punished for my actions!"  The filly crossed her forelegs and stared at the floor.  "I was mean to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and teamed up with Diamond and Silver.  The CMC got humiliated in the end, but what did I get?  Friends.  That ain't a punishment, Discord.  That's a reward.  For what?  For bein' a bully? That just ain't right.

"Don't you see, Discord?  My feelin's of guilt and regret are the only ways I can punish myself!  I - "

"You turned yourself around, yes?"  Discord interrupted.

"O-of course I did!"

"The Crusaders know this, yes?"

"Well, duh!  We agreed to start over, I joined them, I stood up to Diamond and Silver, I started the Manehattan branch of the CMC…"

"If you ask me, you've already made it up to them," Discord proclaimed.

"What do ya mean?!" Babs cried, scowling at him and slamming her hooves on the table.  Her milkshake, forgotten yet again, bounced slightly and fell back down with a clatter, spilling some pink liquid.  "I thought ya understood!  I thought ya were feelin' the same guilt I am!"

"I didn't lie to you once, Babs," Discord told her firmly.  "I do feel the horrible growing feeling of regret and shame for what I did to my poor friends.  We have the same general past: ponies were friendly to us, but we turned on them and backstabbed them for our own personal gain."  Babs cringed at the harsh words, but accepted them.  Discord went on, "What we should have done is stood with them and faced the issue together, no matter what we would sacrifice for ourselves.  I wouldn't get to be free and chaotic, and you would still get bullied, but we would have something that would make it much better.  Friends.

"What is a friend to you, Babs?"  Discord asked quietly.

"A-a friend?" Babs repeated, taken aback by the question.  "Um, I guess somepony who's nice to ya, hangs out with ya, gets along with ya…ya know."  She waved a hoof.

"Yes, and true friends are ponies who are there with you, for you," Discord added.  "Even through the hardest of times…they're there for each other, never looking out only for themselves.  They're happy together, they'd never lie to each other, creating a kind atmosphere amongst them…and spreading that magic of friendship to ponies across Equestria."  Discord smiled at the filly.  "I know your fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders are true friends now that you've all started over, and have truly forgiven you for everything.  You know how I know that?"  Discord's smile grew warmer.  "Because I know what that's like, too."

Babs held her gaze upon the draconequus, letting his words sink in.  Forgiven for her actions?  Even though she didn't deserve it…that was the magic of friendship, she realized.  It couldn't be that simple, could it?  Was she being too harsh on herself?  Could it be true that friends could truly forgive her for her transgressions when she wasn't even close to deserving it?  Even if the CMC had tried to get back at her, the whole ordeal never would have happened if she had just stayed with them.  And yet, they could forgive her and stick by her side through thick and thin?  She didn't have to hide from her past, because friends would help her see it all through, and shine a new light in her life.  Like... "Actually, you're wrong, Discord."

Discord raised his eyebrows in shock.  "Oh?"

"Yes.  You said that true friends are ponies who are there with and for you."

"Yes, and…?"

"You're wrong, Discord."  Suddenly, Discord found himself being squeezed rather tightly in all the power a city filly could pack into a tackle hug.  His eyes widened and jaw dropped.

Not releasing from the hug, Babs smiled up at him.  "A friend doesn't have to be a pony."  In fact, she nuzzled her head in his fur.  "It can be a draconequus, too."

After a second or two, Discord's surprised expression melted into a touched one.  He shared Babs' grateful smile, wrapped his mismatched arms around the filly, and returned the gesture.  The bowl of mushed potatoes floating nearby landed gently on the table, all jokes forgotten in the warmth of the moment.  A once-again runny milkshake sitting on the table was turned frothy and delicious with a snap.