Scootaloo's Guardian

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 19

The next morning in Ponyville, Scootaloo stirred from what amount of sleep she managed to get after hearing Astaroth's tale of carnage. She rubbed her eyes and gave a yawn as she pushed her blanket away and stood up. After she finished stretching herself, she looked over to see the dark golem still sitting down in his resting position. The orange filly grinned at how gentle he looked while he was asleep, and trotted over and hopped onto his lap as she beamed up at him "Good morning, Astaroth!"

Astaroth mumbled a little in his sleep, and he opened his eyes to see Scootaloo grinning at him. He forgot how annoying she was to his eyes as he glared "What is it, runt??" he muttered in an angry, yet tired tone.

Scootaloo only patted at the dark golem's chest with a smile "C'mon, Astaroth! We're gonna go to school today! Remember??" She hopped off and trotted towards the doorway, excited to start the day "Shake a leg! I don't wanna be late with my friends!"

The dark golem groaned in irritation as he slowly rose to his feet and cracked his neck to receive a few satisfying cracks. He then rolled his arms as he walked towards the entrance himself. Today, he'll get a full tour on Ponyville and get himself 'acquainted' with the rest of the town. He often wondered why he hasn't reclaimed his lost ax and raised hell when he had the chance. At least the orange filly had given him enough info to help him figure out where to start in terms of obtaining power.

When the two reached the doorway, Scootaloo looked up at Astaroth "Okay! This is gonna be a whole new thing for you, and everypony out there's obviously gonna stare. Don't let it bother you, okay? I just want you to stay at my side and keep your addiction of giving pain under control! That's all I want you to do."

Astaroth glared down at Scootaloo "You're sounding very commanding today. I don't think you understand who you're talking to, runt..." He was already getting fed up with Scootaloo's mouth. The dark golem only wanted the orange filly alive because she wanted her to guide him towards the nearest source of power.

Scootaloo glared back "This isn't a command, Astaroth! I'm begging you to keep yourself under control while we're out there! It won't help anypony if you ever decide to lose your temper at a random moment!"

The dark golem grunted and clenched his fists "No promises...Now lead the way before I punt you out there myself!"

The orange filly sighed and rolled her eyes as the two began to make their way out. While walking, Scootaloo couldn't help but tremble in excitement with how she's not walking to school alone for the first time.

As they made their way across town, everypony within Scootaloo and Astaroth's radius stopped what they were doing and gawked at the sight of the dark golem. He looked around to see their many expressions of fear and chuckled to himself, wondering what would happen if he went anywhere near them. Scootaloo was kind of uncomfortable to see the folks around her instantly grow afraid of Astaroth, even if he is a giant monster.

Further ahead, the couple Lyra and Bon Bon sat on a bench as the day went by. When they heard footsteps, they turned their attention to see Scootaloo and Astaroth approach. Bon Bon held the same reaction as everypony else, whereas Lyra was the exact opposite. Her eyes glistened with joy and her mouth hung open in a smile at the sight of Astaroth. Scootaloo simply waved to the couple "Good morning, Lyra! Good morning, Bon Bon!" When they left, Bon Bon merely stammered while Lyra kept her ecstatic expression and hopped from the bench to go follow them.

Snips, Snails, and Pipsqueak were found talking before heading to school. The stout unicorn levitated a large pair of bronze scissors and smiled with pride as his friends awed at them "These are my dad's special scissors! He let me borrow them to take to Show and Tell day! Pretty cool, huh??"

Pipsqueak held a case in his saddlebag "Very! But check this out, you guys!" He then fished out his case and opened it, revealing a set of teeth "This is my dad's collection of shark teeth he kept during his time at sea!" He pointed at one of them "This is a tiger shark's teeth! Isn't that great?"

Snips and Snails were indeed impressed as they awed as well. It was now Snails' turn to talk "Those are real good,but you haven't seen NOTHING yet! I'm bringing my uhhhh..." He looked up with widened eyes "Myyyyuuuuuhh...uuuhhhh"

Both Snips and Pip raised an eyebrow as the stout unicorn spoke "Snails? Snails, what's up?? Did your brain stop working again??" Snails only pointed a shaky hoof up behind Snips and Pip as they turned around. They then shared the same expression as the long-necked unicorn as they stared up.

Scootaloo passed by with a smile "Hey, boys! See ya at school!" Astaroth followed after her without saying a word. It was better for him to take in all of the fear everypony was showing him, save for the green unicorn following him. He was getting annoyed with how she just stared at him with those eyes.

The three young colts only stared at the small group going away with their jaws hung open. Pipsqueak managed to find his voice after they were out of sight "...Blimey..." Snails then spoke up "What he said..."

Applebloom walked with Winona as they reached school grounds, and noticed Sweetie Belle coming into view with her dress adorned with shimmering sapphires. The two crusaders galloped to each other and shared a hug before talking "Howdy, Sweetie Belle! Ah'm really likin' th' dress! Yer sister really knows how t' make clothes look nice!" Winona stood with the yellow filly as she panted and wagged her tail.

Sweetie Belle smiled "Thanks! I'm looking forward to showing everypony at school!" She turns her attention and pets Applebloom's dog on the head "Hi, Winona!" The unicorn filly giggled as the dog licked her cheek "It'll be good to see her doing tricks today! I'm sure the other students will love her!"

Applebloom chuckled "So am Ah! Makes me wonder what everypony else'll bri-" Her eyes widened as she remembered "Oh, horseapples! We forgot about Scoots!"

Sweetie Belle shared her friend's reaction "Oh no! I hope she's okay..." The poor filly feared for Scootaloo's condition with how Astaroth can lash out at her for saying the wrong thing. Her fearful thoughts have vanished when they noticed the orange filly coming into view with Astaroth following behind her. The two crusaders then made their way towards the orange filly and stopped in front of her.

Applebloom spoke "Scoots, yer okay! Thank Celestia-" She looked behind Astaroth to see Lyra standing and looking up with her unchanged expression of joy "Uhhh...What's Lyra doin' with Astaroth?? An' why is she so happy??"

Sweetie Belle scratched her head "Maybe he saved her??"

Astaroth grunted and looked down at the unicorn filly "The peon followed me and the runt...She's starting to piss me off!"

Scootaloo looked back and smiled awkwardly at Lyra "Hey, Lyra! It's good to see that you're happy and all, but...do you think you could maybe give Astaroth some space, please? He's getting a bit creeped out..." She ignored the glare he received from the dark golem as she spoke for him.

Lyra snapped out of her gaze and turned to the filly "Oh! I-I'm sorry, girls! It's just...I've never thought that they would actually exist!" She beamed at the dark golem.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow "Who's they? Do you know Astaroth or something??"

The mint-colored unicorn shook her head "Not exactly, but this is the first time I've ever seen a human! I heard another passed by the other day but nopony bothered to tell me until later on! That made me so sad!" She looked down.

The crusaders gathered as Applebloom spoke up "Wait a minute! Ya know what humans are, Lyra??"

Astaroth turned to face Lyra and gritted his teeth "I'm not a worthless, feeble-minded human!!" He made the group of ponies cringed at his volume. The dark golem turned to face Scootaloo "What are you waiting for, runt? Tell her to leave so we can continue!"

Scootaloo looked up and nodded "Oh yeah! School! Right!" She turned to the mint-colored unicorn with a sad smile "Sorry, Lyra! We'll have to continue this some other time! We're gonna be late for school!"

Lyra sighed "I understand..." She then looked up at Astaroth with a grin "But I insist that you stop by at my door sometime! I would just LOVE to hear your stories!!"

Scootaloo shot the unicorn a deadpan stare "Trust me, lady...You don't wanna hear HIS stories..." She then gave a polite smile "See ya later!" The group, now numbering five, went towards the school as they and Lyra went their separate ways.

When they approached the school's entrance, they noticed Astaroth was indeed too big for the entrance. Scootaloo gave an awkward chuckle "I guess Sweetie Belle was right about this one..." She looks up at the dark golem "Sorry, Astaroth! You'll have to hang out here for the moment until everypony can see you!"

The dark golem was infuriated with this until he turned to see the many looks of fear that were directed towards him. He might not be able to destroy anything right now, but he was content with knowing that they know better than to approach him without a death wish. He gave a malicious grin at the folks in range, and some of them winced.

Applebloom looked up at Astaroth and raised an eyebrow "Ah think that's his way of sayin' he's okay with it..." She turned to the orange filly "C'mon! Let's head inside!" The crusaders and Winona made their way inside the schoolhouse to begin their day.

As the day passed by, the classmates were busy showing what they have brought to school. Peppermint Twist was next as she brought a statue of Cherilee made entirely of candy canes on a wagon "Thith ith a little project that I worked on over the weekend to bring today! I made it myself~!" She flashed her favorite teacher a grin. The filly was always happy to have a teacher like Cherilee around Ponyville.

Cherilee was impressed with the statue, though a little troubled on the inside "That is very nice, Twist! How long did this take you, if you don't mind me asking?"

Twist looked up at the magenta pony "Two days counting when I left Friday! Then I spent the retht of the weekend making thure it wath intact! I have loth of free time!" She gave an adorable squeak as she grinned.

Cherilee gave an awkward smile "That's, err...good, I guess. Your project is wonderful, Twist! It's great to see that you kept it in 'mint' condition!" She gave a hearty chuckle at her joke, to which Twist joined in as well. The rest of the class just gave their own reactions of disappointment towards the gesture. Twist then rolled her statue to her seat as Cherilee cleared her throat "Now...next up is Diamond Tiara!"

The pink filly hopped from her seat with a smug smile and trotted up to the front of the class and struck a pose as if she were waiting for a photo shoot. The rest of the class, save for Silver Spoon, didn't exactly know why. Cherilee then asked "Diamond Tiara...What do you have to show today??"

Diamond Tiara then spoke "Oh, right. I haven't really told anypony yet!" She then adjusts her tiara with a hoof as it gave a shine. It was different to what she usually wore "My daddy bought me a new tiara made of platinum imported from Neighpon! Isn't it like, just amazing?" Some of the students looked at the tiara in wonder.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at this 'Amazingly stupid...' She looked over at the window to see Astaroth sitting down and minding his own business. Thank Celestia he wasn't about to go on a rampage. Her ears perked up as she heard Diamond Tiara speak more "I know you're speechless at this, and so was I when it was presented to me! So dazzling...It costed a fortune just to get the details right!"

Cherilee smiled "That is very nice of Mr. Rich to do this for you, Diamond Tiara. It looks ravishing on you!"

Diamond Tiara gave another smile "Thank you, Ms. Cherilee!" She then trotted back to her seat with the same smug smile, much to the crusaders' displeasure.

The magenta pony then spoke up "Scootaloo, I believe it's your turn!" The orange filly perked up and grinned, while her friends shared worried glances. Some of the students looked uneasy, while others were confused at her sudden burst of happiness. Cherilee raised an eyebrow "Umm...What do you have to show for us, Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo only hopped up "Oh, he's outside! I can't wait to show you all!" This caused the entire classroom to look uneasy, including Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.

Cherilee had an expression of worry when she spoke "Scootaloo...Your item for Show and Tell day wouldn't be..." She pointed a hoof out the window "...that one out there, would it?" The classroom looked out and seen Astaroth examine the swingset's bars.

Scootaloo nodded "Yup! C'mon, I'll show him to you!" She happily galloped outside as the rest of the class reluctantly followed.

Outside, Astaroth hummed as he looked 'I wonder if they'll suffice as material for when I want to make a new weapon??' He then heard an approaching set of hoofsteps as he turned to see Cherilee and the class trot towards him. He glared at them all and scowled 'Great...More runts...'.

Scootaloo trotted up as she stood at Astaroth's side, raising a hoof to him "Everypony! I would like you to meet Astaroth! As you can already tell, he's big and definitely strong! He can even stay up all night if he wants without any sleep, too! Also, he's a bit of a grump, but he can be okay if you stay on his good side!"

Applebloom stood and looked at her pegasus friend in worry 'That filly's askin' fer trouble! Ah sure hope th' big guy doesn't go off his rocker...'. She and Sweetie Belle only prayed that nothing would go wrong.

Cherilee winced at the glare she was receiving, but thought it was best to be polite as she trotted up with an awkward smile "Umm...Hello, Mr. Astaroth! I've never actually seen you around here..." She then frowned "...or anypony else for that matter..." The magenta pony turned to Scootaloo with a look of confusion "Scootaloo, where exactly did Astaroth come from??"

Scootaloo smiled "Oh, that's the best part! Me and my friends found him underground!!" The entire class gasped as she continued "And I-..." She wondered if it wasn't a good idea to explain the means of Astaroth's revivification and simply stretched the truth "He...woke up!" She flashed an awkward grin.

Cherilee looked up "Is this true, Mr. Astaroth??" She got her answer in the form of the dark golem crossing his arms and grunting in response. Cherilee then smiled "Well this is certainly...strange. But I have another question." She looks down at Scootaloo again "What exactly is Astaroth, Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo looked up at the dark golem as he returned her gaze. She then looked down and rubbed her chin in thought "Hmmm...He's....Well, he's..umm...." She couldn't say human, since he already said it earlier today, and she wasn't sure what else to call him. But then her ears perked up as she remembered something and held a slowly growing smile "He's my guardian!"

Cherilee and Astaroth widened their eyes at the orange filly and spoke in unison "What!?"

Scootaloo nodded "Yup! Astaroth here's my guardian! He always keeps me safe and happy no matter what! I'm glad to have somepony like him around!" She looked up at the dark golem with a warm smile. While he was big, mean, and monstrous, the orange filly meant every word. All she needed was time to set Astaroth in the right place when it comes to how he acts.

Astaroth twitched an eye at this 'What is this runt's game!? I am NO guardian whatsoever! Oh, when I get my hands on her...'

Cherilee looked at Astaroth, and then at the orange filly "Well, this is a rather amazing thing, Scootaloo! And you say your friends helped? As in-"

Scootaloo nodded "Yeah, my fellow crusaders Applebloom and Sweetie Belle! C'mon up, girls!" She waved for them to come near them. The two fillies shrunk their heads in embarrasment as they trotted up next to Scootaloo and Astaroth. The rest of the class stared incredulously at the three fillies and the dark golem.

Pipsqueak then spoke up "Erm, I have a question! Why does Astaroth look like that?? He looks like he's ready for Nightmare Night!"

Scootaloo replied "I...don't exactly know..." She looked up at the dark golem to see him glaring down with gritted teeth. She drooped her ears and gave an awkward chuckle "But let's not hurt his feelings, alright? I'm sure it's not worth talking about~..."

Silver Spoon raised an eyebrow "Why is he so angry all the time? Did you and your friends prank him or something??"

Scootaloo then waved a hoof "Oh no, he just woke up wrong is all!" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle facehoofed at this. The orange filly then looked away, worried 'I dunno how to exactly picture him in a good mood, though...'

Cherilee looked up at Astaroth and gave a warm smile "Well, excusing how we acted earlier, it's nice to have you here in Ponyville, Astaroth! I hope that you continue to keep Scootaloo out of harm's way!"

Astaroth only narrowed his eyes at the magenta pony and kept silent 'No Promises...'