A school ruled by chaos.
Sunny Rays tried to get a general idea and looked to the ruin of her home. The pillar was pitted and creaked, the thatch laid heavy on the attic. She flapped her wings to fly higher and circuited the house with a loud sigh. The supporting roof truss has been eaten and the straw has been collapsed on the attic below. Hopefully the unicorns might have time to help her.
But their homes would look the same, too unfortunately.
A few pegasi passed her and the unmistakable voice of Rainbow Dash sounded in her ears.
“No Cloudchser, I'm not kidding.
We have to keep the rain away from these houses and must protect them from the slightest breeze, till we're able to fix them.”
Sunny Rays searched for her friend, but the blue mare glanced just shortly to her, before she glided away.
The stallion at her side just sighed and tried to demur.
“But according to schedule, it has to rain this afternoon and the Apple family had asked for an explicit shower on their fields.
Shall we just throw the whole plan out of the window after all? The weather has to be...”
Rainbow snorted and both pegasi argued, while the were flying further. Sunny sighed, hovered for a moment over the ruin of her home and tried to keep cool. But she was worried, if everything in the house would be fine. Were Scootaloos stuff secure in her room, or had the dammed swarm eaten something?
She thought back to her niece and looked to the school, the place she had taken the fillies.
Cheerilee tried to keep the nervous blabbering school foals in check somehow. But they were way to nervous or even scared to stay calm.
“As long as we don't know, if your homes are safe, all of you will stay here.
Nopony will go home unsupervised, I will wait with you for your parents, or siblings.”
She repeated it over and over again for every filly and colt who asked her. This time it was Rumble, who had asked her with a very quick bunch of words and was supported by his friend Featherweight.
“Could...I want...everything is broken...Miss Cheerilee.
The chaos in the school rose more and more and the volume overstepped one critical point, for Cheerilee at least. She thumped a hoof on the ground and shouted over the heads of her students.
“Settle down!”
It helped for a moment, everyone fell silent and stared to her.
Scootaloo was sitting on her desk and looked down to it. She kept silent and concentrated every little thought on the grain to lock out all of her fears and worries. But she couldn't push her memory aside so simply too.
First this cute little things were just eating food, but something changed them and they began to devour any object in sight. She felt the rising panic from everypony else and Sunny Rays took both fillies on her back. She flew to the only place, she thought was safe for the fillies, the school of course. There she put both fillies on their seats in the classroom and looked to them.
“Do you think, you can handle this situation on your own, Scootaloo?
Or should I stay with you two?”
The filly shook her head quickly, but regretted it immediately, as Sunny nodded and galloped to the door.
“Just wait for me.
I have to go and see, if I could help anypony, okay?”
Sunny sounded almost relieved, but really fast, as she opened the door. She rushed through it and left the fillies in the care of the empty class room.
Sweetie wasn't helpful neither, first she stayed completely silent and breathed quickly at the table, than she murmured a few hasty words.
“Do you think, Mum and Dad are okay? Or Rarity?
Do you think somepony will expel these creatures?
Do you...do you think...”
Scootaloo shook her head and looked to her friend. She expressed her fears quite easily with her wide open eyes and the trembling wings on her back.
“I..I just don't know.
I'm worried too and...”
The door opened quickly and a grown up mare shoved two more fillies in the school. Miss Rich glared shortly to the other fillies and turned back to her own fillies.
“Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, don't stay near those blank flanks. Just wait here, until I've found Miss Cheerilee. She will look out for you.”
Both earthponies nodded nervously and the mare disappeared quickly.
They glared shortly to the other two fillies, sat down in the last row and whispered excited.
“Do you think she'll come anyway?”
“Princess Celestia will be surly her for a visit.”
The voices trembled a little bit and Scootaloo was sure, that they only tried to tame their fears with that talk. More and more fillies and colts has been brought to school and talked vividly in shambles.
“My mummy...she has been brought into the hospital.
Do you think, she is bad...badly...hurt?”
A trembling voice beside her got Scootaloos attention and she looked to the small unicorn on the next seat. Her violet coat bristled as she trembled and her yellow mane flew over her terrified eyes.
She had spoken with one friend to her left and drew quick circles on the desk with one hoof. The older pegasus colt on the last seat in the row opened his mouth, bit his lips and his wings started to tremble. His grey coat even bristled too. He flapped his wings involuntary, so he lifted off a little bit.
“I just don't know, Dinky.
But have you seen my brother? He had tried to blow this pest away from our home lastly, but had sent me away.”
The colt babbled along, without even trying to answer the questions of her friend. The little filly shut her eyes close, fought back a few more tears and trembled. Scootaloo stood up, approached slowly and opened her mouth.
“Who is your mummy?”
The little filly opened her eyes scared and stared to the other pegasus. Same tears were gathering in her eyes again and Scootaloo tried to smile, but she just made it worse.
The filly stammered around, but nothing understandable came out of her mouth. She rather sobbed incomprehensible and covered her mouth quickly with both hooves.
She put both hooves on her desk and hid her face behind this barrier. Sobbing and crying sounded obscure from the trembling filly. Scootaloo wanted to lay a hoof on her mane first, but just stopped, as she sensed, that every foal stared to her. She murmured an apology for the little filly and slunk back to her seat.
“So now the blank flank reduces a little filly to tears!”
This voice cut easily through her defences like ice and Scootaloo slouched her shoulders in response.
She only stared down to her own desk top, instead of answering the now starting whispering around her and tried not to listen or to say anything. Even as Cheerilee stepped in the classroom shortly after that, with a wild gasping mouth and very weary condition, she didn't bother to raise her head.
Why couldn't she do anything right?
The fillies and colts kept Cheerilee on the go, that she didn't notice until now, that three of her students were in need for more encouragement. And she did take notice of it, just because now she sat down on her own desk finally and look to the three fillies on the first row.
Dinky had laid her head behind her hooves and shut out everpony else.
Scootaloo just stared to her desk and seemed to be lost in her mind.
And Sweetie Belle just stared out of the window and to the cloud of dust who was Ponyville once.
But they kept silent the whole time, so they were totally overlooked from Cheerilee in the shuffle of the other scared students.
But now the mare went first to Dinky the youngest filly of the three and laid a hoof on her head. She caressed over her, waited for an answer and whispered, as she was getting none, a question.
“Are you alright, Dinky?”
The filly looked up quickly, her red eyes showed, that she had cried and the coat at her hooves were even wet from tears.
“I...mummy is in the hospital. I just don't know, if she is alright, or not. Or if she is able to come for me, or not.”
The voice was so loud, that Scootaloo has been dragged out of her lethargy. Dinky eyed her up and stroke her mane gently.
“And Rumble didn't want to help me and he has been gone home already.
And she had...”
The little unicorn pointed with a trembling hoof to Scootaloo and the filly drooped her head.
Cheerilee gazed at her shortly and the shame and guilt of her knotted itself in her head. She blushed and sensed a rising heat in her cheeks. She chewed on her lips and sighed low.
“What has Scootaloo to do with that?”
The following question sounded without any accusation on her ears, but the filly jumped on her hooves regardless. She pranced nervously on the spot, galloped to the door, raised a hoof to push it open, but a loud shout from Cheerilee stopped her.
“Stay Scootaloo!”
Nopony laughed, nopony whispered. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been picked up many hours before, or so it seemed. Scootaloo looked back to the class and found out, that just the lisping Twist, a small pegasus and Sweetie Belle were actually staying in the class.
“She had asked me, who my Mum is.
She wanted to help me, though she was afraid herself, Miss Cheerilee.
But I wanted to brace myself and answer,
but I couldn't and have started to cry.”
The younger filly blushed and wiped over her eyes. Her voice lured Scootaloo back to her desk and a quick smile wandered over Cheerilees face.
“Well, it was nice from her, that she tries to help you.”
Scootaloo didn't expect this kind of praise and the encouraging thump on her shoulder surprised her even more.
“But I...I have made it worse.
I couldn't help her and have even driven her to tears!”
This came out of her mouth and she chewed on her lips again, to calm herself down.
“But you know, Scootaloo, you've tried it at least.
Nopony else have tried to help you, or have they, Dinky?”
The little unicorn shook her head quickly. She faced Scootaloo and her yellow eyes were beaming in gratitude.
“Thanks, Scootaloo.
My mummy is Derpy.”
Scootaloo froze and the upcoming smile faded quickly away. She opened her eyes wide and started to speak quickly.
“D...Derpy, really? I'm hoping, that she is alright.”
Before she was able to speak more, the little unicorn jumped closer to her and pressed herself in a crushing hug. She nestled closer into her chest and buried her face there. The smaller filly trembled and Scootaloo looked a little bit scared to Miss Cheerilee, as a sob came out of her. The mare smiled and nodded. Scootaloo hugged her back hesitantly and petted her mane very gently.
“Everything is going to be fine, Dinky.”