Chapter Three: Memories
The sun was rising over Ponyville. Celestia's life bringing rays turning the dark sky to a low orange that will turn into a crystal clear blue in a few hours. Most ponies would be waking up by now, except a certain pegasus mare who trotted down the road to her house, her head still buzzing from the crazy bass drops from the party she had attended.
Scootaloo giggled as she reached her door, she had never felt so alive before. She had no idea why she had stayed. All she remembered was Misery's words. Something about them had a power over her that made her more confident. She mentally shrugged. She'd had the time of her life! She giggled again, only to have her merriment cut short as the door opened in front of her with Pinkamena looking at her. The pink pony's eyes were unreadable, her mouth a flat line.
"U-uh... Hi." Scootaloo said lamely.
Pinkamena sighed. "Wandering the streets and joining parties when you can't sleep now?" She asked flatly.
"Hey! I'm a full grown mare now. I think I can take care of myself." Scootaloo replied hotly.
The piercing eyes of the pink mare grew softer, and a soft chuckle fell from her mouth. " I know, Scoots. You're just easy to pick on." Pinkamena's gaze went up to the purple shades the pegasus had on her forehead. "Those seem very familiar to me... You're not wearing them to hide your face even more so than you do now, are you?" Pinkamena asked with concern in her eyes.
Scootaloo shook her head. " No. The DJ gave me these. She said that I could have these to hide myself, but I wouldn't need them." Scootaloo explained as she took the shades off of her forehead and held them on her hoof.
"They seem... Familiar."
Scootaloo looked up at the pink mare's eyes. They were unfocused and distant as she looked at the glasses, as if lost in thought. Was she trying to remember? Should she tell the older mare? Scootaloo shrugged then. "You've probably seen a poster, or something." She said, trying her best t sound nonchalant. "Anyway, I'm tired now," her sentence was interrupted by her own yawn. "So I think I'm gonna hit the hay."
Pinkamena nodded. "Alright, Scoots." Pinkamena's eyes focused again. "I'll see you tonight then, I have some business to take care of with the Underground. They're sending a new subject." The deviant mare grinned, and her eyes sparked to life. The pegasus shivered and walked up the stairs to her room, where she promptly flopped onto her bed and let sleep overtake her.
--==--
Scootaloo blinked as she searched the blankness around her, tossing her mane aside to have a full field of vision. She tried to focus her eyes, but there was nothing to focus on. She cursed. "Misery? Where are you? Misery!" When no response came she groaned and sat on her haunches. Scootaloo closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her mind. Where is she? She shook her head. After a few minutes she was hit with the sweet scent of pastries. She opened her eyes in confusion She was in Sugar Cube Corner. Alarm bolted in her. "Oh no..."
She bolted into the kitchen, heading for the back door. If her fear was correct, this was a memory. A memory of...
She kicked the door open and gasped. Before the pegasus were two ponies. One was on the ground, one was standing over the fallen pony. The pony on the ground was a pegasus mare; her wings here crumbled and her cyan coat was stained with blood from the slash across her throat. The mare's magenta eyes that once held a cocky light were now dull and glassy. Her mouth was open in a silent cry, never to be heard. Scootaloo's eyes caught the dead pegasus's prismatic mane and her thrice colored lightning bolt cutie mark.
Rainbow Dash.
Scootaloo tore her gaze away from her fallen idol as a rush of tears threatened to overtake her. Her movement took her to look at the pony standing over Dash. It was another mare, her bloodstained coat was a bright pink and her mane and tail a darker shade. Her face was shadowed by the unruly mass of curls that made up her mane, and on her flank was three balloons. She was Pinkie Pie.
As soon as it came, the vision was gone, and she was in the confounds of white. Scootaloo stared blindly, trying to make sense of what she just saw.
Misery's voice reached her ear. "You are starting to remember."
--==--
Scootaloo's eyes snapped open, and the orange pony's amethyst and ruby eyes soon filled with tears. She buried her face in her pillows as her sobs rocked her body. Over and over the memory played itself in her head, yet she couldn't make sense of it. It was too vague. She couldn't see Pinkamena's face to see if she was crying, she didn't see sobs shaking the pink mare. In fact, everything was still, as if locked in time. There was no wind swaying the grass, and Rainbow's blood was stagnant. The memory was a fragment, and it tortured Scootaloo.
Sighing, she rolled out of bed. She stretched her limbs, which elicited a groan of relief from her. She fluttered her wings and opened her door, exiting her room to the dark stairway. Once downstairs, she caught sight of the basement door and shuttered. The basement was Pinkamena's workshop; home of many, many deaths. A shiver went down her spine as she heard the loud giggle of the demented pink mare through the heavy wooden door.
She stared at the door, lost in thought. Pinkamena was a professional killer, and ever since the time she had thought her friends no longer liked her parties her sanity had deteriorated. She had a long history of Rainbow Dash constantly being annoyed by her. Rainbow could have snapped at Pinkamena, causing her to loose grip of her sanity...
Scootaloo shook her head vigorously, shaking the thought from her mind. No. No. No. Impossible! Pinkamena was Rainbow's best friend. No matter what Rainbow could have said,, Pinkamena wouldn't take it to heart. She growled and headed out the door, unable to think while in that damn house. Once outside she took a deep breath and enjoyed the feeling of the breeze going through her mane. Concealing her scars with her bangs, she began walking aimlessly at a steady pace. She smiled inwardly as her head began to clear of her previous thoughts.
After half an hour of her mindless walk, she found herself in Ponyville square, where the stage will still set up, now vacant and unlit. across the way at the train station, ponies were beginning to file out onto the street. She watched the tourists unload, having nothing else to look at. That was until her eyes locked onto a smokey grey unicorn stallion. He had a long, windswept black mane, which had a single red streak that contrasted his dark yellow eyes. On his back he bore large, heavy saddle bags, so heavy looking that even an earth pony would struggle, but he walked with ease. On his flank was a strange looking circle with symbols she had never seen before. After a few moments she shook herself and looked around, searching for any pony that caught her staring. She took a last glance at the stallion before she turned away and headed to the shopping district.
When she saw the first of the pavilions of shops, she slowed down to a slow walk, taking in the many colors and smells. She grinned a bit and decided to head over tho the largest, brightest of them all, Carousel Boutique's booth with things that were on sale for half-off. She stopped and looked at the multiple hues of blues and violets arranged in a stylish pattern before looking at the mares at the register. They both had white coats, the older of the two with a purple mane and diamonds on her flank, who even in middle age was a thing of grace and beauty. The other was Scootaloo's age, her mane was long with large curls at the end, colored with faint purple and pink. Her cutie mark was a heart with a single musical note in the middle. She approached them. "Hey Rarity, hey Sweetie Belle."
""Hey, Scoots!" called Sweetie Belle.
"Ooh, Good day to you, Scootaloo." chimed Rarity in her sophisticated voice. "What brings you here?"
"Well,", Scootaloo started, "It's getting colder so I need a heavier jacket to wear. This one's nice an all, but it's more for looks than it is warmth. Plus It's starting to get some wear-and-tear to it." She added. She didn't particularly care, hell she liked the look of worn leather, but she knew that it would make Rarity look for the best stuff.
Rarity gave an excited grin. "Well, we can't have that now, can we? Sweetie Belle, you know what she likes. Bring all the leather winter jackets here and place them on the counter."
The younger unicorn nodded and ran through the flaps of the tent behind them. The clothe storage, Scootaloo guessed. It didn't take long for Sweetie Belle to come back with a giant wad of black leather coats levitated in her light blue aura. With practiced care, she placed the items of clothing on the counter in front of her. The white unicorn smiled to the orange pegasus, who gave a half smile back, only to be cut off by Rarity.
"Alright dear, Lets begin searching for you're perfect match!" The purple maned unicorn exclaimed as if she were helping Scootaloo find a coltfriend. Rarity surrounded the heap in her own magical aura and slowly lifted each coat one-by-one for Scootaloo to inspect. The pegasus shook her head at them as the passed her field of view. They seemed a little too common for her, for many stallions she had seen wore similar coats.
Finally, after going through half the pile, She saw one that called out to her. It was a black leather long coat that splits at her tail so the flaps would drape over her flanks and hang to her knees. On it's sleeveless shoulders were five spikes set along the curve. On the inside was fake white fur to provide warmth. Along with it that was floating in the air separately was a spiked collar. Scootaloo pointed to it. "That one".
"Hmm..." Rarity narrowed her eyes at the garment and gave it a speculative gaze. Scootaloo knew she didn't particularly like mares dressing in stallions' clothes. "It's a bit brash, don't you think? The style is a tad bit last season," Rarity continued. "But I suppose it is what you like and I have no say in the matter." She finished with a smile. Scootaloo knew she must be screaming inside her head, but she showed genuine pleasure of selling the item to the pegasus.
Scootaloo paid the price, it was surprisingly cheap even though it was on sale, and Rarity folded it and placed it in a bag, Which Scootaloo picked up with her mouth. She thanked them and departed, heading through an ally way as she normally did to go through town. She froze in her tracks at the sound of a colt voice behind her.
"Oh, hello there, little filly."She turned to face the voice. It belonged to a dark blue earth stallion. Scootaloo dropped her bag at his sheer size, he was as large, if not larger than Big Macintosh. He was staring at her with electric green eyes and a mad grin. She didn't recognize him from town, so he must of come off the train.
"Don't look so afraid," The stallion chuckled as he slowly advanced towards her. "Just be quiet and it'll be over quick. I'm just going to take your money, and then you!" He moved swiftly towards her.
Scootaloo flared her wings witch caused her jacket to open. With lightning reflexes, she drew the large knife she had hidden in a concealed pocket of her jacket and held it in her mouth. The stallion laughed maniacally and lunged to her side. She jumped back in a dodge and lunged forward, using her wings to propel her body and swings her head. Scootaloo ended her short forward flight as blood splattered against her. She felt strangely invigorated by the feel of the hot liquid on her fur. She whipped around to look at her kill, only to be disheartened by the fact she had only sliced his shoulder.
The bleeding stallion growled through his teeth, blood was flowing freely from the deep gash in his deltoid. "I'm going to kill you for that!" He lunged again, much before Scootaloo could react. He rammed his good shoulder into her side, knocking the wind from her lungs. She dropped the knife and took short, uneven breaths and screwed her eyes shut as the pain filled her body. She then felt a hoof connect to her jaw and she sailed back and against the wall and her vision flickered as she lay in a heap. The pegasus looked up at the earth pony and memories tormented her mind, images of the timber wolf shredding her face and leaving her broken. The pain and fear of being at the mercy of another creature. She closed her eyes as the stallion reared back, ready to deal the final blow.
When nothing came she opened her eyes. She gasped, seeing the stallion floating in a yellow aura, and was then slammed hard against the opposite wall. He lay there unconscious. She blinked a few times to register everything as another pony body filled her field of vision. It was the unicorn from the train. She slowly stood, grateful her mane covered her eye.
"Are you alright?"