Forgotten Memories

by Teal-Tome

Rating: everyone
Tags: Discord, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Other, Princess Celestia
Length: 3377

What happens when somepony you love is taken away from you?

What if somepony you love was taken from you? Twenty years to the day, a mare had her father taken away from her, she visits him to celebrate her birthday, but what if her father is trapped in a dark cold prison. Will she be able to talk to him? Will she have the best birthday ever? Who is she and who is her father?

Published 2012-10-20 18:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-11 21:16:06 UTC

Happy Birthday!

The Royal Palace had a once a year festival in which they opened up the palace to its subjects. It was a day of celebration; they came to celebrate the Elements of Harmony.

It was a very sunny day; the weather team from Ponyville cleared the skies. It was packed; ponies from every corner of Equestria came to Canterlot. One pony in particular came to the festival, not to celebrate with every other pony; she came to see an old friend and somepony very close to her. She trotted all the way from Ponyville, to come to see her father at the Canterlot Gardens. She walked up to a stone figure.

“Hello father, long time no see, how have you been?”

She looked at him, no response. His face was filled with terror, no it wasn’t because the appearance of his daughter. She came closer to him, she laid a hoof on his body, and still no response from him.

“Well you know what today is right, or did you forget?”

She was carrying a box, and placed it in front of her father. She opened it, and inside the box was a cake, on the cake it had said Happy 20th Birthday! She placed a couple of candles on the cake.

“Even though I hate going to Sugar Cube Corner, I bought it anyway because they are delicious!”

She lit the candles; she waited for him to start singing to her, and again nothing. In her mind she thought, Wow, he has the most amazing voice in all of Equestria! She had tears coming out of her eyes as he finished singing, and then she took a huge breath and blew the candles. She looked at her father, and thought, I hope that my wish becomes true!

“How big of a slice do you want?”

She took out a knife, and started cutting the cake, she cut a pretty big piece for her father, and she chose a smaller piece. Then she took out a gallon of chocolate milk, and poured herself a cup and her father as well.

She asked her father, “So, do you like the cake?” She looked again, and he still had that some emotion.

“Oh, you do!  How about the chocolate milk? You like that too! That’s why I’m the best daughter ever!”

While she ate her piece and drank her milk, she cleaned up her and her father’s plate and cup. She then brought out another item from her saddlebag, another box. This time it was wrapped in colorful paper with a big pink bow just like her coat. She placed the box in his arms.

“Ooh, what is this?”

She thought her father bought a gift for her, she jumped with joy, and she imagined her father speak, “Here is my present to you! I love you! Open it!” She grabbed the gift from his hands and opened the box. She was surprised.

“Aw! Dad you shouldn’t have! I love it!”

Inside the box contained a propeller hat. She removed the one she had and placed the new one on her head. She made the propeller spin fast enough that she was lifted off the ground. She was a good four to five feet off the ground and flew in circles around her dad. She stopped after a couple of minutes, and sat down again.

“I love this! This brings back memories, doesn’t it Dad?”

She looked up at him and smiled at him. She came close to her emotionless father and gave him a hug. He still had the same expression, and he didn’t hug back.

“Dad, you are so cold! Here.”

She took out a scarf, and she flew up to his height. She wrapped the beautiful scarf around her father’s neck and gave him a kiss.

“There, now you won’t be cold! You can have it, I have plenty of these back at home.”

She thought her father said something, “Thanks, it gets very chilly at night. So how have you been? Anything new?”

“Well, I went to Manhattan with a few ponies. Do you remember the three fillies without their cutie marks back in Ponyville?”

She waited for a response, and not a single sound was made from her father. Finally, she heard him speak. “Ah! Yes, I remember those three little fillies, they remind me of myself when I was young. So what did you do while in Manehattan with them?”

“We went shopping for some clothes, ate some delicious food, and I found a coltfriend while I was in Manehattan. He is so nice, cute and smart. I was going to bring him but he had things to do in Manehattan. But I brought a picture of us.”

She reached into her saddlebag and took out the picture. She used her new hat and flew up to show him the picture of her and her coltfriend. She blushed as his terror filled eyes were looking at the picture. She eventually flew down and put the picture away.

“Doesn’t he look awesome? I wish he was here. Oh well, there’s always next year right Dad.”

She imagined him nodding at her, she thought he smile at her. He approved of her coltfriend.  “He looks like a great colt for you. I’m so happy for you! I hope you two have a wonderful life full of happiness. I remember when I had a crush on this mare.” She knew who his crush was but she wanted to hear who it was again.

“Aw! Dad, can you tell me who you had a crush on back ages ago?”

She imagined her father rolling his eyes at him. “Fine, I will tell you who it is..again. But be sure not to tell her, okay. Do you swear you won’t tell anypony about this!”  She sat down and listen to what her father was about to say. “Well, the pony that I had and still have a crush on is... Princess Celestia. She was the most beautiful mare I ever laid eyes. Oh the memories!” She giggled, and he once again rolled his eyes, she was being so immature.

“Aw! That’s so cute!”

She looked over to the festival, it was almost closing time, and her time with her father was ending very soon. She looked back at her father; she remembered all the good times they had before. From him handing her a glass of his famous chocolate rain milk, to a bite of the cotton candy clouds, she would never forget those moments with him. She began to tear up, she turned away from her father and she thought to herself, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry in front of him.  She used her hoofs to clean her eyes from any tears that were visible. She turned back to him. She felt someone coming close to her and her father.. She used her propeller hat to get out of there as fast as possible, and into the sunset she flew.

As the festival closed, all of the ponies left. Princess Celestia decided to take a stroll around the Canterlot Gardens. As she was taking her stroll through the gardens she saw something unusual, the statue of the draconequus had a scarf around it.

Celestia whispered to herself, “Who came and put this scarf around him? Hm.”

She walked around the statue and noticed something lying in front of it, a letter. His daughter panicked, she picked up everything she could and left behind a letter that she had written to her father. Celestia didn’t see her leave, but the letter was addressed to the draconequus’ statue. She open it up. Inside was a letter and a picture. Celestia was shocked, the picture showed the draconequus with a small pink filly wearing a propeller hat. Celestia set aside the picture and grabbed the letter with her magic. She opened it, and read the letter aloud.

Dear Discord,

For the past twenty years, I haven’t had a father, a father who loved me, who protected me from this world. I haven’t had fun since that dreaded day. The day they took you away from me, and incased you in this horrible way. The time I spent with you, Dad, was the highlight of my life. I would give up everything I care for so I could to be with you for just one day. One day where we could pop the Apple’s corn crops and eat the popcorn. Or make it rain chocolate milk, and we would just lie down and drink the rain until we couldn’t move.

I want you to know that I don’t hate the Elements of Harmony, but will I ever forgive them for what they did you and me? No, I will never forgive them, they hurt me, and they took away what I loved most in life, you Dad. They will never feel what I felt when that rainbow hit you, they will never feel what I feel when I see you in this form. I hate seeing you in this way Dad, it made you look horrible, I don’t want people seeing you this way, and they see you as a monster. I don’t see you as a monster, I see you as a provider. You provided me with a lot of things, food, shelter, and love. The reason why you created so much chaos was not to get back at Celestia, but to make me the happiest filly in the world.

In the end, I feel that you should have told Celestia about your feeling for her; all I want is to see my daddy happy again. I should have stopped those ponies from transforming you into this. If I did, we could have been here celebrating my birthday, and had that pink pony throw a big party, but I didn’t. I just want you to know how much I love you! I miss you Dad! Until next year, same time, some place.

Sincerely,

The best daughter in the world,

Screwball

Celestia was in tears, she never knew that Discord had a daughter, let alone somepony who cared for him greatly. She wiped her tears, and placed the letter back into the envelope, and placed it back where she found it. She went up to Discord’s face, and kissed him on the cheek. She flew back into the palace, and when to sleep. The surrounding area around Discord started to empty. As the gardens cooled, a tear was sliding from Discord’s eye.

“Goodbye Screwball, your daddy loves you too!”

Epilogue: One Year Later

The following morning after his daughter visited, Discord was in a state of shock. After Celestia read the letter out loud to him, he felt terrible about not being there for her. He felt so left out from her life, from meeting her coltfriend to saying goodbye to her and her friends as they were headed to Manehattan.

Why couldn’t I be there with her? Why must I be imprisoned in here? I’m sorry Screwball, I failed you, I failed you as a father and as your best friend.

Tears began to appear on the draconequus’ statue. He was in so much pain. He felt like he would never ever be with his daughter ever again. He would never have the chance to create chaos for Screwball. All of the chaos he created was for her, not to tick off Celestia.

Oh Screwy! I miss you already. Why did those ponies imprison me in here? I was only trying protect you, Screwball. I wanted to protect your playground; you were having so much fun. If only there was a way only for me to be with you at all times…

Celestia was also a mess. After to learning that Discord had a daughter, she felt even worse. She never knew about her. She was in her studies crying for much of the night. She didn’t get any rest, she was sobbing like a little filly.

“If I would have known of his daughter, I would have stopped Twilight and her friends from imprisoning him in that stone prison. There has to be a way to give Discord a chance to be with his daughter.”

Celestia was determined to find a way. She decided to head to the to the library, she wanted to see if there was a spell powerful enough to help Discord in some way. She spent hours and hours trying to search for a spell. Finally, a voice appeared in her head that was similar to Discord's voice.

“Oh Celly, you aren’t going to find anything in this library! Just stop what you’re doing, please do it for me, do it for Screwball.”

“Discord, I’m sorry!” she sobbed, “I’m sorry that I took you way from her, I didn’t know! If it were up to me, I would of never of stuck you in there. Will you ever forgive me?”

“Celly, you know that I would forgive you, I mean you didn’t know about her until now, I just want to be with her Celly, I wanna be there for her, but I can’t.”

“I know Discord, I know you do, but I can’t do anything about it. I’m sorry; the only way to get you out of there is if the Elements of Harmony aren’t connected to Twilight and the rest of the group.”

Discord and Celestia were crying, they wanted to do something but what can be done. Celestia cleaned her tears and went to do her regular duties for the day. In the back of her mind she heard Discord crying, He really misses her...

It was very late at night; Celestia was still up, thinking of a way to help Discord. She thought of searching for Screwball but, she didn’t want to scare her off. She calls out for Discord.

“Oh Discord, where are you? I have an idea!”

“What is it my dear Celly? What have you come up with?”

“Well, it might take a while but here it is!”

As the two kept talking and talking to each other throughout the night their plan was sure to work. But there was a drawback to it. There could be only one way to get Screwball back with Discord. It was the only way to keep Discord and Screwball together.

A year had past, it was time for the annual festival, and people came to Canterlot to celebrate. Once again Screwball had come to celebrate her birthday with her father.  She returned to the garden but this time something was missing, Discord. The statue had been moved.

“Where could they of put him?”

She saw that there was a trail of popcorn heading into the palace. She thought her father was playing a prank on her. She followed along the trail of popcorn; she hadn’t done this in a while. The popcorn stopped at the entrance of the Castle. She was shaking; she didn’t want to go in there. She didn’t want to be caught and be place in a dungeon for causing chaos and being an accomplice of her father.

“Buck it! I’m going in and I’m going to see my father. I don’t care if they try to stop me, I WILL GET TO SEE MY FATHER!”

She trotted and saw that there was more popcorn scatters on the floor. She followed it, she went up and down the stairs a few times before ascending to the room of Celestia. Screwball was too busy eating the popcorn that she didn’t pay much attention where she was heading to. She finally hit her head on the doors leading to Celestia’s room. She opened the door and there was her father, Discord. She ran to it, suddenly she felt like something was holding her back from hugging her father. Celestia grabbed a hold of the pink pony and put her down on the floor.

“Hello Screwball! My name is Princess Celestia.”

Screwball was shaking in fear that she was going to live in a dungeon forever. She would never see her coltfriend or her friends from Ponyville. She began to cry.

“I’m sorry. I was just a filly! I didn’t mean to wreck chaos. Please just let me go!”

“Screwball, I know you didn’t do anything wrong but there is someone who wants to talk to you. He’s been waiting for a long time to talk to you”

Suddenly, Discord appeared on one of the stained glass windows.

“Hi Screwy! I’ve missed you!” he began to cry, “I’m….sorry….I’ve failed you as a father…”

“Daddy don’t cry! I miss you too! You’ve always loved me; you’ve always been a father to me. You haven’t failed me.” Tears began to glide from her eyes. “Daddy, I love you!”

Celestia got closer to Screwball. She used her right front hoof to clean off some of Screwball’s tears from her face. Celestia was also crying, but on the inside. She didn’t want to show Discord or his daughter seeing her cry.

“Um…Princess…Celestia? Why did you move my daddy?”

“I needed to be closer to him; he needed me to help him with some special occasion.”

Celestia picked up a box covered in colorful paper, she handed it to Screwball. Screwball read the note on the box. From: Your Dad, To: The Best Daughter I Could Ever Ask For, Screwball. She smiled at her father who was still on the window. She opened it up, and inside was a necklace. This was a special necklace, it had the same design as the necklaces the bearers of the Elements of Harmony but instead of gold, it was silver and it had Screwball’s cutie mark in the front of it. She loved it, but she didn’t know why her father bought this.

“Why did you buy me this daddy? I love it; I just want to know why.”

Discord looked over at Celestia, and gave her a signal.

“Screwball, me and your dad spoke. I’m going to make you a Lady of the Royal Family. You deserve this.”

Screwball had a bigger smile that before, she was filled with joy. Discord was also happy; she wanted the best for her. Celestia helped Screwball put on the necklace, and once it was on she ran towards the statue of her father and hugged him, she didn’t want to let go of him. She used her propeller hat to fly up and kissed his father on the cheek. Discord had never been this happy in his life. He got to see her daughter filled with joy.

Celestia, Discord, and Screwball passed the day talking, and celebrating Screwball’s birthday. Screwball didn’t want to leave, but she had to. She had to return to her friends and her coltfriend. As she was packing up to leave, Discord wanted to say his goodbye.

“Screwy, you know that I love you, and will never stop. You mean so much to me. I know I can’t be there with you, since I’m stuck in here, but you can always talk to me, I’m only stuck in here physically. If you ever need to talk to me or you want me to be there for you, just call me out. You, Screwy will always be my first priority. I love you Screwball! You have grown up to be one fine mare, maybe one day I will be able to have the chance to see you have fillies of your own.”

Screwball blushed, “Oh daddy, you will be an awesome granddad to my fillies if that happens. I love you too dad! I hope we get to see each other and talk to each other more often now that I am “Lady Screwball”. I’ll get to visit not only you but Celestia as well.”

Celestia and Discord waved goodbye to Screwball as she flew into the night. Screwball was happy that he got to see her father and got to talk to him. Discord and Celestia went to sleep. Discord thought, My Screwy, I hope to see you real soon. You have grown up to be an awesome daughter. I hope we make some more chaos just to annoy Celly. Good night my dear Screwy!