Previous Chapters Next
Close
Chapter 14,407 words
Chapter 22,657 words
Chapter 33,485 words
Chapter 42,966 words
Chapter 52,990 words
Chapter 63,289 words
Chapter 73,411 words
Chapter 83,376 words
Chapter 93,212 words
Chapter 102,963 words
Chapter 112,743 words
Chapter 123,105 words
Chapter 133,445 words
Chapter 143,503 words
Chapter 152,912 words
Chapter 163,174 words
Chapter 173,016 words
Chapter 183,413 words
Chapter 193,062 words
Chapter 203,306 words
Chapter 212,944 words
Chapter 222,236 words
Chapter 232,547 words
Chapter 243,455 words
Chapter 252,855 words
Chapter 264,258 words
Chapter 272,414 words
Chapter 283,052 words
Chapter 292,704 words
To my readers...213 words

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Enter Astaroth

Scootaloo could have sworn she heard the sound of her two friends Applebloom and Sweetie Belle while being held in the wall by the large monster. She counted herself lucky the monster didn't cause any major damage to her, but the orange filly was aching from both times he was slammed by her. She perked her ears as she tried to listen carefully while under the grip of the murderous being, who was also focused on the approaching sound.

The voices spoke again "It sounded pretty loud...an' Ah thought Ah heard it come from over that there house! Do ya think Scoots is in there?" Scootaloo gasped and widened her eyes, scared that not only would her friends discover that the body was now alive, but could also destroy them without hesitation. The second voice replied to the first one "In THAT place? That doesn't seem like a place Scootaloo would be in. Besides, she knows we have to go grab that large body we found in the hole outside of Ponyville!" The monster gave a quiet growl, finding the distant voices annoying as the first voice spoke again "Well, we'll never know if we don' check, right? Let's go an' check it out!" The voices ceased and were now replaced with hoofsteps raising in volume, signalling someone is about to enter the house.

Scootaloo was in a panic despite her pain, and she turned to the monster and desperately whispered "Quick! You have to hide! They can't see you yet!" She hoped the mosnter would comply, but only succeeded in grabbing his attention and making him glare daggers "I don't take orders from you, runt!"

The orange filly struggled a little under his strong grip and tried urging again with pleading eyes "Please! You have to listen to me, I don't want them to see you yet! You have to trust me on this!" She let out a gag as she was choked more by the large monster "You!? Why should I trust a worthless piece of poultry like you!?"

What was it with everypony in Ponyville calling Scootaloo a chicken? Dismissing the thought, she stated her reason when she found her voice "Because I brought you here and woke you up! You don't even know this place like I do! Now please listen to me!" The monster wanted to hit her again, but gave a quiet hum at the filly's reason.

It was some kind of miracle, but the large monster plucked Scootaloo out of the wall and dropped her on the floor as he looked down on her with his threatening eyes "Where do I hide?" his voice was softer, but still reeked of the same malice as always. Scootaloo never thought she would get through to the large being in front of her, but then began looking around frantically and looked at the pile of rubble to the right of the wall. She galloped over and turned to the monster "Over here! And quick!"

The monster grunted and walked over to the designated spot, his feet giving loud thumps with each step. He then pushed Scootaloo out of the way, making her fly into a doorless cabinet, and began kicking away some of the rubble and took cover behind it, kneeling with the eyes of a predator. Scootaloo peered her head out of the cabinet and saw the monster doing what he was told. She mouthed a 'thank you' to him, then hopped out of the cupboard and galloped towards the house entrance.

At the entrance, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stepped through the doorway and looked around, grimacing at the house's condition. Sweetie Belle turned to the yellow filly and spoke "Once again, in THIS place? It's all old and beaten...I'm surprised Mayor Mare didn't take down this place yet. Also, I'm not hearing those loud banging noises again."

Applebloom looks around "While Ah agree with ya on the house, Sweetie Belle, Ah'm sure those loud noises came from here! Maybe they jus' stopped th' moment we came in. Do ya think somepony's waitin' fer us?" the unicorn filly began to shiver at the thought "I-If that's the case, we shouldn't even be here! We should be out in town looking for-" a cheery tone interruped Sweetie Belle "Hey, girls!"

The two crusaders look ahead and noticed Scootaloo galloping towards them. She stopped in front of the two with a small grin and spoke again "Nice to see you two! What're you doing here?"

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other in confusion and the yellow filly raised an eyebrow "We could ask ya th' same thing, Scoots! Why are ya trottin' around this beat-up place when we got a body to grab?" She then took notice of the small injuries on her body and looked shocked "More importantly, where th' hay did ya get them scars? Were ya doin' somethin' in here?" Sweetie Belle chimed in "Yeah, we were looking for you around town! We never really thought to check this place, on account of it being a dump..."

That hurt Scootaloo with the way Sweetie Belle spoke of her only home, but she had herself to blame on not telling them where she lived. She brought back her grin and replied "Uhh, I was just...I..." the fillies blinked with confused eyes at their pegasus friend, and she began looking around "I..." She continued until she noticed her scooter helmet and smiled as she dashed over and picked it up "I-I lost my helmet! Yeah, that's it! Can't leave home without it, right?" the orange filly gave an awkward chuckle and a wide grin.

Applebloom tilted her head and looked more confused for a moment, but then smiled "Well, it's good t' know ya found your helmet, but we better get goin'! Maybe we can get yer scooter and see if it could be enough help pullin' out that big body. While th' other choice is way easier, Ah really don' want mah brother to pull it out. It's gonna be a surprise to mah family an' th' rest o' Ponyville!"

Scootaloo nodded "Gotcha! But I really gotta do something first! Just wait here, I'll be right back!" She went into the demolished kitchen as quick as a flash, puzzling her fellow crusaders.

When she made it into the kitchen, Scootaloo looked over to the pile of rubble and the monster hiding behind it and galloped over to his side, whispering "Okay, I really am grateful that you chose to listen to me on this, but now I just want you to stay here while I go with my friends! I'll come back later and I can tell you more about this place so you can get a better feel of where you live now!"

The monster growled and spoke loudly while hiding "Live here!? I refuse to waste my days in this place, even if it does make for a good slaughterhouse!" Scootaloo perked her ears and panicked at how loud he sounded. To make things worse, his voice reached the ears of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, prompting them to wonder what was going on.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle gave a simultaneous "Huh?" and looked at each other after hearing the new voice, then trotted over towards the kitchen. Applebloom looked up at the ruined doorframe, how large chunks of the upper reaches were torn away with the cracks still fresh, then trotted passed it with her unicorn friend, who began to feel uneasy. The two found Scootaloo looking around with her back turned, and then facing them when she heard the two approach. She gave another awkward chuckle and grin "Just making sure I haven't lost anything else!"

Sweetie Belle trotted up "But what could you lose inside of a kitchen? It was only just your helmet, right? You didn't lose your shovel in here, did you?" She raised her eyebrow at the orange filly, who was shifting ehr eyes left and right, not sure on what to say next.

While she was in a predicament, the monster behind the pile of rubble lost its patience as he took sight of the new faces in the kitchen. It was too much to stay in one spot, and he felt like destroying something as he leaped out of his hiding place and startled the fillies.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked up at the monster with their jaws nearly hitting the ground, awestruck at how it was moving, but was unaware of the vengeance in his eyes. He picked up Sweetie Belle by the head and brought her to his eye level, growling at her and striking fear into the poor filly. She began to scream and flail, and Applebloom looked shocked at what was happening.

The monster went to go strike Sweetie Belle, but Scootaloo tugged at the worn pants he was wearing, being careful not touching the spikes, and caught his attention "NO!! Don't hurt her! She's my friend!" The monster looked down at Scootaloo and narrowed his eyes "You're pushing your luck, runt! Stay out of this! It's been a while since I felt blood between my fingers..."

Scootaloo grimaced at his words, drooping her ears in the process, but her friend was being held by a monster, and she wanted to follow Rainbow Dash's example and be loyal to her friends no matter what. She looked down, and her determination began to grow as she looked back up at the monster with a commanding glare "No! I won't let you harm her! She didn't even do anything to you! Put her down NOW!" She never faltered her gaze, and felt triumphant to know the monster halted his advance on her unicorn friend.

The monster looked down and growled at Scootaloo, causing her to inwardly cower at his anger, but then was surprised to see him drop Sweetie Belle, who quickly scurried behind Applebloom and began to cry. He kneeled down and looked Scootaloo right in the eye, narrowing his own as his glare hardened. The orange filly continued glaring back, then wavered a little at how terrifying the monster was to her, only to remember her dear friends were about to be harmed and continued her glare.

They stared for a moment, Applebloom watching with fear as she comforted Sweetie Belle, and then the monster began to chuckle. Scootaloo's determined gaze faltered completely after hearing him chuckle, then cringed as he stood up and bellowed into loud laughter. He looked back down at the orange filly and gave a malicious grin "You have guts, runt...I should see if your mouth matches your strength!"

Scootaloo was scared for a moment, but quickly brought back her resolve as she looked up "I don't have to! Me and my friends brought you into this world, and you don't know anything about it! You NEED us!"

The monster growled, but slowly began to comply. Normally, he would wander the world and kill whatever stood in his way, but if what the filly said was true, he could blindly end up back into the ground. He hated the pony in front of him, but secretly admired her audacity in staring death in the face. The monster crossed his arms and looked down at the filly "So, you say this isn't the same world I was born into, hm? Why don't you enlighten me before you convince me to tear you all apart?"

Sweetie Belle, finally able to stop crying, sniffled as she hid behind Applebloom "H-How did he come back to life? Why is he acting like this? Scootaloo, what's going on??"

Scootaloo turned to the unicorn filly, and her resolve diminished in front of her friends as she felt it was time to confess what happened in terms of the monster's revival "You remember when we found this guy and went back home for the night so we could find him today? Well, I woke up in the middle of the night so I could get a look at him, but he was taken by the Diamond Dogs outside of Ponyville." This elicited a gasp from the two fillies as she then continued "So I went out after them, and found out they were about to dump him in a purple river because he had no gems!" The monster looked down at the orange filly and narrowed his eyes "I convinced them to give me the body AND a jar of the purple water so I could take it to Show and Tell day Monday, but then I accidentally spilled it..."

Applebloom was perplexed about the purple river and wanted to know more about it, but Scootaloo wrapped up her story "The water was everywhere, but then it all moved on its own and went inside this guy's mouth, and he woke up!" She finished as she looked up at the monster with a grin on her face.

Sweetie Belle was now scared "The water moved on its own and brought THAT back to life? What kind of water was that!?" Scootaloo shrugged "I dunno..." she then looked up at the monster "The better question is, what should we call you??"

The monster grunted in question as Applebloom looked up at him, her tension fading as she noticed he wasn't going to attack "Hm, maybe we should give 'im a name?" She stared at his hammer-like helmet and smiled "How about Hammerhead? Sounds fittin', what with th' hammer on yer head and th' nails on yer body!" The monster glared down and growled "I will be called no such thing!" Sweetie Belle looked up at the monster, yet was tense as she was near "Why not?" He pointed a large finger at the unicorn filly and spoke in a low and dangerous tone "I will bury you alive..." She squeaked and quickly hid back behind Applebloom, who was also cowering and shaking.

Scootaloo trotted in front of her friends, becoming more courageous around the monster as she spoke "So what do we call you, hm? Unless you like the name 'Giant Monster Psycho', we're gonna need a name from you!" Her two friends were surprised with how the orange filly was able to stand her ground around the body, but then focused their attention to the monster, who stared back and uttered his name.

"Astaroth..."

The fillies were confused, and Applebloom spoke up "Asta-what?" He repeated himself, but with more anger "Astaroth! My name, you fool!" the fillies cringed at the outburst.

Scootaloo tilted her head "Astaroth, huh?" she then smiled "Okay, it's something! You're opening up to us, and that's good!" The orange filly brought a hoof to her chest and introduced herself "My name's Scootaloo!" she points to her friends "That's Applebloom, and the one behind her is Sweetie Belle! And together, we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" She brought up a hoof with pride as she declared her team name.

Astaroth gave an evil smirk "Crusaders, huh? You're nothing but a bunch of maggots to me..."

Applebloom heard the insult and glared "Hey! Why're ya such a big jerk t' us? Ah mean, we brought ya here!" She paused, then turned to her pegasus friend "Well...Scootaloo brought ya here...and she brought ya back t' life! Aren't ya grateful that she got ya back on yer feet!?"

The dark golem scoffed and struck his chest with a clenched fist "I do as I please! I shouldn't even take orders from the likes of you!! Get out of my way, or I'll crush you under the heel of my boot like the insects you are!"

Scootaloo groaned and yelled "Cut it out! I already told you, you need us! We're not really giving you orders! We just want you to cooperate with us, since you kinda owe us for bringing you back to life! All that we ask is that you just consider us your friends while you stay here! What do you have left to lose?"

Astaroth stared down at the orange filly in front of him and looked at her stare, noticing determination with a slight hint of sadness. Why was the pony sad? He then noticed the other fillies trot up to her side and stare up at him with frightened, but curious eyes. He wanted to beat them senseless, but he realized that the little pony had a point. Other than the power coursing through his veins and his now-lost ax known as Kulutues, what did he have to lose?

The crusaders were confused and wondered why the golem was hesitating, but then he growled in defeat "Fine...Count yourself lucky I won't destroy you...yet..." Sweetie Belle squeaked at the last word she heard, but Scootaloo sighed in relief and smiled up at Astaroth "Good, then you'll have to stay here with me and-"

Applebloom turned to the orange filly "Wait, stay here? With you? What're you talkin' about, Scoots? Why doncha take him back to yer house?" Sweetie Belle, while afraid of Astaroth, perked up at the earlier thought of Scootaloo and her personal life "Hey, yeah. What about your house and your family? You really haven't told us much about what you do when you're not hanging out with us, Scootaloo...Why?"

Scootaloo never anticipated this after stating her idea to Astaroth, and now she has to pay the price for letting her personal life slip. This was all too much for her to handle with how her friends were quickly catching onto her plight of being an orphan, and tears began to well up in her eyes as she began to sob. It looks like it was time for her closest friends to know the horrible truth behind Scootaloo's loneliness.

End of Chapter 4

2,466 views

Previous Chapters Next

Comments ( 10 )

Viewing 1 - 50 of 10
- Newest First
- Oldest First

suijin228

suijin228 #1 · Feb 20th, 2012 · · ·

oh man... this just keeps getting better and better. That's why I love your stories. Every time you think you know what's going on, you throw another layer of emotion onto your characters that brings not only new personality to them but problems as well. Anyway keep goin and stay golden^^

Draequine