Different = Good/Love = Good/Different = Love
Author's Note
It's been a while since I wrote some major Fluttercord fluff, so I feel like doing this. Don't hate me if it sucks. Just for clarity, this isn't in the EQG universe, so I tagged it human. No magic exists, Sunset doesn't exist, the pony world doesn't exist, but humans still have colored skin and hair. If I should tag it differently, let me know.
Maybe
Fluttershy peeked from behind a bush, not knowing whether or not she should approach the young girl she saw in the clearing. She looked like she was about twelve, maybe twelve and a half. The child had been sitting on a tree branch, doing nothing when she grew bored and decided to hang from the tree. By her ankles. Fluttershy was worried that she would fall down or faint from the blood rushing to her head, but the girl was smart enough to come up every one or two minutes. Finally, after waiting for about ten minutes, Fluttershy got the courage to walk into the clearing and get the girl's attention. "Um, excuse me, but what are you doing in the woods?" she said quietly, half-expecting a rude response. Instead, the girl leaped down from the tree and faced her.
"I needed a break from my dad and my siblings. My friends are busy too, so I came here. It's my secret place," she said. Only then did Fluttershy look around and see just what they tween had done with the clearing. The trees had lanterns strung around them, there were bags full of candy and other snack foods laying around, and flower pots were placed throughout the area. Only instead of having real flowers, they each held several paper flowers and one cone of cotton candy.
"Does your dad know you're here?" Fluttershy asked.
"No, I snuck out. I don't think he would let me be out in the woods by myself," the girl paused, thinking about whether or not she could trust this stranger. She certainly seemed trustworthy, and her dad didn't. But he was, so she saw no reason why she couldn't trust this woman. "By the way, my name's Screwball, but everyone calls me Screwy." Fluttershy thought about how strange a name that was, but Screwy seemed like a strange child. She had white and purple swirly hair, light pink skin, and wore a purple knitted sweater with a screw and baseball logo on it, as well as a propeller beanie. But strangest of all, she had no pupils. Her eyes were just purple spirals. Luckily, Fluttershy was kind enough not to comment on it.
"I'm Fluttershy," she said. "Do you want me to walk you home? I'll bet your father's worried sick." Screwball sighed.
"I guess you're right, Dad's already probably mad, and getting home later will only make him madder." Screwball walked with Fluttershy out of the woods. Since Screwy lived on the other side of town, Fluttershy just decided to drive herself and Screwy there and walking to her house to get in her car. On the way, Fluttershy took the opportunity to talk to Screwball.
"So, you mentioned you had siblings. What are their names?"
"I have a twin brother named Zany, and a little sister named Nexi. Nexi doesn't like us though, she thinks we're weird." This caught her off guard. Fluttershy knew from experience that siblings didn't get along, but usually, it was the older sibling thinking the younger sibling was an embarrassment, not the other way around.
"I don't think she dislikes you, most siblings are like that," Fluttershy replied, unsure of how to handle the situation. Screwball scoffed.
"Yeah right. She stays locked up in her room all day, and whenever we try to talk to her, she just ignores us or tells us to shut up!" Now Fluttershy was surprised.
"Doesn't your father have anything to say about this?" The pink-skinned girl shrugged.
"He keeps trying to get Nexi out of her room, but whenever he knocks on her door, she yells at him to go away. Once, he finally had enough and burst the door open," Screwball hesitated, before resuming. "She started yelling and screaming, throwing stuff, she got so angry, she... she just ran out and left. One of my friends who lives near us called me and told me about where Nexi was. My friend convinced Nexi to come home, and we haven't talked about it since." The two sat in silence for a few seconds, before Fluttershy tried to strike up another conversation.
"So, you also have a twin brother? What's he like?" Screwball's expression immediately changed to a mischevious grin.
"Oh, he's something alright. He's basically the only one who keeps Nexi and me from tearing each other apart. Also, he's always willing to prank our irritating neighbor with me. We pull pranks, have water fights, and just have fun. Don't tell anyone, but he has a crush on my best friend, who also happens to be our neighbor and has a rivalry with our dad." The adult in the car raised an eyebrow.
"Your best friend is your neighbor, who has a rivalry with your dad?"
"Yup. Whenever she walks into our house, dad will make some snide comment towards her, she'll fire back, and things escalate. One time, we TP'd her house, next thing we knew, our doors and windows were duct taped shut! She only left one upstairs window open, so we had to gout out of that window and remove the tape." Fluttershy laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Screwball looked out the window."Well, looks like we're here." Before Screwball got out of the car. however, Fluttershy stopped her.
"Wait, do you want me to go with you?"Screwball shrugged.
"I don't see why not." As the two walked across up to Screwy's house, Fluttershy took note of the neighborhood. Most of the houses seemed pretty run down, save for three large houses. One was an angular, modern style house, which seemed cold and emotionless. The second, which was right across from the last one, looked ominous. The majority of the house was either black or dark purple, save for some magenta window panes. The third house, which was the one Screwball lived in, seemed oddly inviting. It had plants growing all over the front porch, and several fairy lights. Unlike the previous two, which seemed as though the residents were the type of people who would yell at anyone who set foot on their lawn, this family seemed like the type who would let anyone in. Not hesitating, Fluttershy knocked on the door. It swung open, showing a boy who looked the same age as Screwball. He had pale gray skin, and grayish platinum hair covering one of his eyes. He also had peculiar eyes. Like Screwball, he had no irises. He had red pupils and yellow sclera. Choosing to ignore it, Fluttershy smiled. Screwball only rolled her eyes.
"Screwy? Where were you?" he asked. He cast a quick glance at Fluttershy but didn't acknowledge her.
"Not telling," Screwball replied. The boy rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. Dad's been looking everywhere for you. Did you really have to run off somewhere now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nexi was watching some R-rated movie she wasn't supposed to be watching on her laptop. She and Dad started fighting, and now she's locking herself in her room."
"How was I supposed to know that?!" Screwball exclaimed. "I mean, I'm sorry if I need a break from you and Nexi!"
"Oh yeah, right, because you're so tolerable, I totally never wish I could have a break from you," the boy retorted.
"Are you mocking me, Zany?" she said in an annoyed tone. Oh, that's her brother, Fluttershy thought.
"Maybe I am," Zany answered, glaring at his sister. Just as Screwball was about to make what might have been a very nasty remark, someone else walked in.
"Zany, what's going on?" he said, clearly displeased. He looked towards Screwball. "Screwball? Where have you been?" He paused, looking at Fluttershy."And who is that?" Fluttershy took a better look at the man. He had the same skin tone and eyes as Zany, but instead of wispy blond hair, he had wild dark grey hair.
"I was just taking a walk, stop worrying. And this is Fluttershy, she drove me home." Discords eyes widened.
"You got into a car, with some random stranger, who you just met, and all of this, WITHOUT TELLING ME YOU LEFT THE HOUSE?!"
"Wait, that's not what happened," Fluttershy said. Discord raised an eyebrow. "I bumped into her when she was taking a walk, I asked her what her name was, and what she was doing. I offered to drive her home, and she agreed."
"C' mon Dad, it's not like she kidnapped me or anything," Screwball said.
"Well, that doesn't change the fact that you didn't know for sure," Discord argued. After looking at Fluttershy, then to Screwball, then back to Fluttershy, he sighed. "Well, as long as you're not hurt, you're not in that much trouble." Screwball grinned. "But you're grounded for a week," he added.
"Dangit," Screwball muttered under her breath as she walked up to her room, Zany trailing behind her. Not sure what to say, Fluttershy was about to walk out the door, but the man stopped her.
"Wait," he said.
"Yes?" Fluttershy responded, turning around to face him.
"Thanks for bringing Screwball home, I appreciate it. My name's Discord, by the way. Come by soon, if you want. I'm sure Screwy would be really happy to see you."
"Oh, um, sure. Bye," Fluttershy said, before walking out of her door and sitting in her car. As she drove off, she let her thoughts drift back to Discord. He seemed fairly nice, but she couldn't help but wonder where the children's mother was, or if they even had one. Maybe he was a single parent? It was possible their mother just wasn't home at the time. Perhaps if she visited again, she'd ask. Maybe.
Discord sighed as he slumped on the couch. He glanced at the picture of himself and his kids. He knew why Nexi ignored her family. He knew what was going on, he was just too much of a coward to acknowledge it. He knew Nexi wanted a mom, he knew she felt different because she didn't have a normal family. He couldn't just sit her down and talk to her about it, he didn't know how. He was never really good when it came to talking about emotions. Or just emotions in general, for that matter. Screwball seemed pretty friendly with Fluttershy from what he understood. Perhaps that was because she might have been interested in what Screwy had to say, and actually talked to her. Maybe it would be a good thing to have her around Nexi, maybe that would help her feel more normal. Maybe.