//------------------------------// // Chapter 20 - Brown Fox // Story: Tale of a Lost Scoots // by RDfan27 //------------------------------//     The early morning sun was just poking out from behind the mountains, bathing the landscape in a warm orange glow. Scootaloo lifted her head as the bright rays of early morning sun disrupted her sleep. Scootaloo let out a loud yawn as her eyes fluttered open. “Morning, sleepyhead,” Tidal Wave said in a sing-song voice.     “Where are we?” Scootaloo asked through the early morning fuzziness that clouded her mind.     “We’re just about to pass over the mountains. Take a look.” Scootaloo’s mouth dropped open in shock as she stared in awe at the snow-tipped peaks that jutted up into the sky around them. Her eyes were glazed over in amazement. ”They’re so beautiful! And so big!” Scootaloo thought as her mouth stretched into a wide grin, her head darting around at incredible speeds as she tried to take in every last bit of the view.     Tidal Wave chuckled. “Careful sweetie, you don’t want to fall,” she warned.     “But, they’re so beautiful! Have you ever seen this before?” Scootaloo asked.     “I have actually. My dad used to take my sister and I up here all the time when I was a filly. We would find a cloud to sit on and watch the sunrise together,” she said with a large smile.     “Wow!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “That sounds cool! Your dad must be pretty awesome!”     “Yeah, he is,” she agreed.     “Wait a second, did you say you have a sister? Where is she? I wanna meet her,” Scootaloo said, bouncing up and down, an even bigger grin now plastered on her face.     Tidal Wave didn’t say anything, her only response being the slowing of her wings to a slow, steady flapping, just barely enough to hover in the air. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “Tidal Wave? You okay?” Scootaloo asked.     Scootaloo heard a sniffle, before seeing Tidal Wave reach a hoof up to wipe her eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just…” Tidal Wave sighed. “I’m sorry Scootaloo, it just makes me sad to think about her.”     Scootaloo’s eyes shot open. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it, it’s just, I was just, but I—”     “Scootaloo!” Tidal Wave exclaimed. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know, I don’t even remember her that well anyway. Only bits and pieces, and not even up until recently,” she said somberly.     “Oh… I’m sorry,” Scootaloo said quietly.     Tidal Wave looked back at her with a warm smile. “It’s okay, really.” Tidal Wave said with a small smile as she looked out into the horizon. “Hey, look, we’re almost there.” Scootaloo followed Tidal Wave’s gaze to a small, rundown town near the edge of the mountains, nestled in between the hills. It was approximately the size of Ponyville. Unlike Ponyville though, a lot of the buildings were old and worn down. There were very few ponies that could be seen moving about, and it was eerily quiet.     A shiver ran down Scootaloo’s back as they approached the town. ”I don’t like this, something’s off here,” Scootaloo thought.     “Calm down, it’s okay,” Tidal Wave said, alerting Scootaloo to the fact that she had taken up a death grip around her neck. “I know it looks scary, but they’re all really nice, I promise.”     “Okay,” Scootaloo said softly. A short while later, they were gliding in for a landing in the middle of the town, as there were very few ponies outside, giving them a relatively clear landing strip.     After they had landed, Tidal Wave began walking, turning her head to scan the rows of buildings and shops that lined the streets. “What are you looking for?” Scootaloo asked as she too began to observe the passing buildings.     “I’m looking for a shop. My father said to find the bakery, so I believe that’s where we should start.”     “Oh, okay,” Scootaloo said as she nodded in agreement. She then focused her eyes and stuck her neck out, bringing a hoof up to her forehead in a dramatic gesture. This earned a chuckle from Tidal Wave.     “I see it! I see it!” Scootaloo exclaimed, jumping up and down while pointing with a hoof in the direction of an old, rundown building with a tattered old sign hanging above the door labeled ‘Bakery’.     “Good job, Scootaloo!” Tidal Wave exclaimed with a smile, turning towards the building. “Come on, let’s get inside and figure out what we’re doing here.” They made their way over to the building and walked inside. They entered a room with tables and chairs spread out among the space. There was a counter at the back of the room with a display case for the various treats and desserts sold by the bakery. There were a few ponies sitting at various tables around the room, and as they entered, all eyes turned to them.     ”Whoah, that’s creepy,” Scootaloo thought, noting all of the stares suddenly cast upon them. She shrunk back a bit on Tidal Wave’s back, making a terrible attempt at hiding.     Tidal Wave had noticed the odd looks as well, and had momentarily paused, hoping they would look away. When they did not, however, she simply continued walking up to the counter, ignoring them for the time being. She approached the stallion behind the counter, who was also staring them down, and tried to give him her friendliest smile.     “Can I help you?” the stallion asked harshly.     Tidal Wave, who was thrown off by this, took an involuntary step backwards as the smile faded from her lips. “Uhh, I think so. I was supposed to say that Brown Fox sent me?” she more asked than stated.     The stallion’s eyes opened wide and his face lit up as he smiled. The hushed whispers around them indicated that it was not an unfamiliar name around here. “Ah, yes, of course! What did he send you for?” the stallion’s tone was now much friendlier.     ”That’s more like it,” Tidal Wave thought, her smile returning as she stepped back up to the counter. “He has sent me to get some Rainbow Pies.” The stallion’s smile only grew wider.     “Ah, his favorite. How many should I get you? Just one?”     “No, we’ll take five please,” Tidal Wave stated calmly.     The stallion behind the counter though… he was a different story. The very words almost knocked him off of his hooves, causing him to reel back in surprise. “F-five!?” he shouted after a very awkward moment of silence.     “Er, yes? Is there a problem?” Tidal Wave asked suspiciously.     The stallion behind the counter did not answer for a moment as he took deep breaths, animating his breaths with a hoof. ”Hey, I’ve seen Twilight do that before! Cool! But wait, what’s got him all worked up? We’re just asking for pies,” Scootaloo thought. A moment later, the stallion seemed to calm down enough to at least talk. “N-no, of course not,” he said shakily before opening up a door, providing access to the area behind the counter. “Please, come on back.”     Cautiously, Tidal Wave took a step forward to make her way behind the counter, before she was stopped by a tugging on her hair. She looked up to the young filly she was carrying on her back. “I-I don’t like this,” Scootaloo whispered shakily. “Something’s wrong.”     “I know, sweetie, just stay with me. You’ll be okay, I promise.” Scootaloo nodded, and Tidal Wave turned back towards the stallion, still waiting patiently for them behind the counter. She nodded, and then made her way back behind the counter. The stallion turned and walked through a door leading to another room in the back.     They entered the room, which was completely bare, save for a single circular table surrounded by chairs placed in the corner of the room. They crossed the room and made their way down a flight of stairs. The stairs were old and wooden with most of them creaking loudly as they were stepped on. The stairway was dimly lit by a single dull light bulb hanging from the ceiling.     They stepped down off of the stairs and were led down a hallway, just as dimly lit as the stairs. ”Great,” Scootaloo thought. ”A creepy staircase followed by a creepy hallway. What’s next, a creepy dark room full of shady ponies?”     A moment later, they turned out of the hallway into another room on their right. The first thing that they noticed was the overall darkness of the room. There was, once again, a single, dim, light bulb placed directly overhead in the center of the room. This time, instead of there being one table in the corner though, there were multiple tables scattered about the room. Each table was surrounded by ponies. It was mostly stallions, although there were some mares mixed in there too.     Scootaloo mentally facehoofed. ”Are you BUCKING kidding me!?” Internally, she was fuming, although externally was pretty much the exact opposite. She was bunched up as small as she could be on Tidal Wave’s back, attempting to hide behind strands of Tidal Wave’s blue mane. She was shaking visibly, and as they entered the room, she covered her eyes and buried her face deeper in Tidal Wave’s mane.     One mare near the front got up as they entered and approached the stallion from behind the counter. “Brown Fox sent them” he said, causing the mare’s ears to perk up in surprise. “It’s not good. T-L five.”     “Buck,” the mare whispered under her breath. “Alright, let’s see what this is all about.” She then turned towards Tidal Wave and Scootaloo. “Did Brown Fox send you with anything?” the mare asked.     “Y-yeah,” Tidal Wave said shakily, grabbing a slip of paper from her saddlebags and handing it to her.     The mare took the slip of paper with her wing, and held it up to her face. At first, she seemed to keep the same, dark look as before, but after a minute or two of her eyes scanning the page, her face lit up in excitement and surprise, before she lowered her wing, and tucked the paper in underneath it. “Well,” she said, looking up on Tidal Wave’s back at Scootaloo who she had failed to notice before. “Who is this that we have here?” Scootaloo’s only response was to shrink down even further.     “That’s Scootaloo,” Tidal Wave said with a nervous smile. “I was told you would have somewhere for us to stay.”     “Why of course we do. Now, please tell me, what is it that brought you here in the first place?”     “Well, Scootaloo here was brought into the hospital that I work at with quite a few injuries. Her front left hoof is still broken, which is why she’s on my back right now.”     “Okay, that explains that, but why didn’t she just stay in the hospital.”     ”I know I wouldn’t have minded that!” Scootaloo screamed mentally.     “Well, I’m not too sure myself honestly. I was talking to ‘Brown Fox’ and he told me to take her here after I told him what happened to her.”     “Well, what exactly happened?”     “She was taken by a couple of ponies from the beach.” A series of loud gasps erupted around the room. “I mean, it’s a little bit more complicated than that, but the simple version is that she was taken, and then she escaped, but only barely.”     The mare’s face was frozen in shock. Her eyes were wide, and her jaw hung open wide. “W-well… um, that explains a lot.” She shook her head, clearing her mind of the shock. “Anyways, come with me. We’ll get you two settled in. We have a lot to talk about.”     “Thank you,” Tidal Wave said, before beginning to follow the mare towards another door on the other side of the room.     “Oh, and you can tell Scootaloo that there’s no reason to be so scared. I know we look scary, but I promise we’re nice,” she said, turning to look back at Tidal Wave and the still cowering Scootaloo who shot up instantly. “W-what! S-scared!? No way! I wasn’t scared! I was just… uh, sleeping! Yeah, I was sleeping… hehe.”     Tidal Wave and the new mare laughed out loud causing Scootaloo’s face to heat up. “Scootaloo,” the new mare began. “You’re a funny one. I like you already. Now come on you two. Let’s get you settled in.”