Nights on Horlick's Hill

by RarityEQM


Night 10

"So whats a Dazzling Dash?"

"What?"

"Yeah. You're always talking about how you use your 'Dazzling Dash' when you 'fight monsters.' What is it?" Scootaloo asked, peering at her companion next to her. Diamond birthed a wide grin and sat upright from her languid position. She'd been sitting in her favorite spot on Horlick's Hill watching the stars in the sky and pointing out her favorite constellations to Scootaloo.

"... Did you make air quotes when you said 'fight monsters?'" Diamond asked. Scootaloo grinned and shrugged, Diamond huffed.

"Well, it's just a head-butt, but like, it's a head-butt with super speed. My contrail comes out and everything! I totally slam into something really super-duper hard and most of the time its monsters, and they give up, cause they see how awesome it is!"

"Waitwaitwait. You? You have super speed?" Scootaloo asked incredulously, an orange eyebrow raised as high as it could go. Diamond Dancer flashed a silver shining grin and nodded her head.

"The superest!" the girl squawked. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"Is this like the time you told me you were eaten by a hydra and then it spit you up from one of its other mouths?"

"That is- That is totally a real story that really happened," Diamond sputtered quickly. Scootaloo rolled her eyes in the other direction.

"Alright then. Super speed, huh? Can you run, to, like, I dunno, Manehatten and back?"

"Aw, I don't wanna go to Manehatten right now, sides, it would take me like, hours to get there,"

"That doesn't sound very super,"

"It's all kinds of super!"

"Prove it,"

"Prove it?"

"Prove it,"

"Uh, I can't do it here. Bad spot for it," the silver filly stammered.

"And why is that?"

"This is a hill. It's kinda, ya know, slopey. It's too steep, I might sprain an ankle,"

"You are worried about your ankles. From running. When you have told me, you survived being hit with an oncoming train. In the face. And your ankles are what you're worried about?" Scootaloo's eyes were beginning to hurt from rolling so much.

"Have you ever sprained an ankle? It hurts a whole lot!"

"How would you know?! You can't feel pain, or was that a fib too?"

"I don't fib!"

"I don't knooooow, claiming you have super speed but you can't prove you've got super speed, sounds like the sort of thing a fibber might say,"

"I have super speed, I just...it's just..."

"Just what? The moon isn't right or something? Can you only do it on days of the week that start with M?"

"No. I'll trip,"

"You'll trip?"

"I'll trip,"

"...And..?"

"And I don't want to trip. Tripping is very uncomfortable,"

"So, what you're telling me, is you have super speed, one of the more remarkable skills some pegasi are gifted with, but you are afraid of tripping, which is why you refuse to use it?"

"That is correct,"

"Why am I not surprised by this? I bet if we went to town where all the roads are flat, you'd complain about how it was too bright there, or something,"

"Well the town is pretty bright..." Diamond whined. Scootaloo gave a rough, aggravated snort and stood up, heading towards the scooter parked at the base of the hill.

"Whatever D. I'll see you later," Scootaloo grumbled. Why she would drag herself out to the middle of nowhere, just to listen to a filly tell her fibs was beyond her. Behind her, Diamond gave a quiet sigh and slowly stood up as well. She brushed the grass off of her fur, shook out her forelegs and stretched like a cat.

"AHEM," she coughed, grasping hold of Scootaloo's attention. The orange filly turned around, watching with waning curiosity. Diamond said a lot of things, and most of them, as far as Scootaloo could tell, were outright lies. She liked to craft her own narratives in place of the truth, often to her own advantage when something she was trying to do had not gone her way. Had it not been for the numerous feathers that spilled from her wings when she used them, she'd even question the girl's alleged sickness.

Slowly, Diamond knelt down, lifting her rump into the air, like a runner on a track might, and narrowed her eyes. The hill was fairly slopey, but she figured her pride had been long gone by this point anyhow, she might as well. She knew full well what was going to happen, but she kicked herself into gear anyway, galloping forward down the hill as fast as she could. Scootaloo watched and was so far unimpressed. The tiny filly raced and raced, going faster and faster. At first, it seemed like another one of Diamond's tall tales, until Scootaloo noticed something strange. Her hooves were beginning to sparkle and glitter and Diamond was accelerating. Faster and faster still, far past the point of a normal pony's running speed. By now a white-bluish tinge was starting to accompany her, darting from her wings and tail with a bright glow, like a flag in her wake. Scootaloo's eyes widened, watching Diamond run, faster and faster still until she looked like a white blur streaking across the grass. Incredible! it was incredible! Was Diamond propelling herself with her wings the way she could do with a scooter? Perhaps not as fast as Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo observed, but certainly nothing to sneeze a- Diamond tripped. Just like she said she would, the filly was suddenly tumbling head over hooves down the hill, resembling a bright silver ball of sorts.

Only she wasn't stopping.

She was still accelerating, bouncing and tumbling along at a breakneck speed, and continued forward after rolling right towards the direction of Everfree forest. She would have kept going, Scootaloo realized, if not for the trees which very promptly aided in her deceleration. She slammed into one with a particularly jarring crash, sending dozens of leaves fluttering down, and startled birds fluttering up and a very liberal application of glowing sparkles all around her like somepony had set off a glitter bomb.

Immediately, Scootaloo was atop her scooter, shooting down the grassy hill towards the spot Diamond had collided with the trees. Diamond had gotten up, sort of, wobbling back and forth as she tried to walk straight. She failed, tried again, failed again, and finally decided to stop trying to walk altogether.

"That, was, AWESOME! Also, are you okay?" Scootaloo cheered. Diamond gave a weak smile and waggled a hoof in her direction. Sort of. Well, one of the Scootaloos anyway.

"T-Taaaa-daaaaa. Hahahaha. See? S-see...I...I...Imgonnathrowup!" she squeaked, turning away from the other filly to yak into the grass to her side.

"How in Equestria did you learn to do that?! Was it one of Luna's boons she gave you?" she asked. Diamond looked over, grinned meekly and tried to reach out for Scootaloo's shoulder. Missed. Tried again. Missed again and finally, settled for just trying to sit upright.

"Naw. F-far as I can tell, it's innate. I think? Also, w-why are, why are there four of you?"

"You hit that tree really hard. There is literally an imprint of your face in the bark,"

"Really? That's prett-urp-hangon," she squeaked, turning to dry heave at the grass behind her. Scootaloo winced. She had expected Diamond to simply be lying to her again, her reluctance over tripping an easy out for a called bluff. This was quite the opposite of what she was expecting, or wanted.

"Can you walk?"

"No,"

"What if I helped?"

"That'd be cool,"

"So, you can just, shoot off whenever you want? How fast can you go? Do you just keep getting faster and faster the longer you do it? Can you dodge arrows with it? How'd you figure out you can run so fast?" Scootaloo asked, the questions suddenly coming faster than she could stop them. Diamond seemed to take it all in stride though, a lofty grin perched upon her glazed lips.

"No, I can't really feel it. It just sorta happens? I think? Sometimes it doesn't work, sorta like my night vision. I think my brain tries to trigger it, but my legs don't always get the signal. Ain't got no clue how fast I get, cause, usually I aim at something, so I only use it in short bursts, although, I probably could dodge an arrow. I learned I could while I was coming up with moves to show Princess Luna," Diamond announced proudly, wobbly walking alongside Scootaloo, who held a wing out to help keep her steady.

"I'm sorry I doubted you. Scootaloo paused thoughtfully. "About that," she quickly added.

"S'cool. I'm sorry I hit that tree, it would have been a lot awesomer if I didn't,"

"It was still pretty cool,"

"I ain't real good at it see? And I ain't so great at turning,"

"You can't turn?"

"I can't turn,"

"I bet you could with some practice!"

"I bet I could with a working nervous system, too,"

"Ah. Right. So, um, are you gonna be okay?"

"Sure, sure. I'll be fine, soon as the world stops spinning. It is spinning a lot.

"Do you wanna sit back down?"

"No, I'm fine, I think? Maybe? Yes, the answer is yes,"

"Are you gonna die?"

"I'd be extremely mad if I was killed by a tree,"

"Would you haunt the tree?"

"I would so haunt that tree,"

"Hahaha, you're just..."

"What?"

"You are simultaneously a little more awesome and a little more irritating every time I see you,"

"Would you call me a Diamond in the rough?"

"Absolutely not,"

"Aww come on! That one was funny!"

"It's four am. It is too early for bad jokes,"

"How about good jokes?"

"That'd be fine if you had any,"

"All of my jokes are good, Scootaloo,"

"Then you have a very selective audience,"

"Only my best friends,"

"Lucky me,"

"You say that like there aren't others,"

"Are there?"

"Nah. Only you make the trip out here at hours most ponies wouldn't dream of being awake,"

"Well, yeah. Who else would make wishes with me and talk about flying stuff nopony else would get? "

"So this is group therapy then?"

"That depends, does it help?"

"Knowing there's another pegasus out there like me? Yeah. Sorta does,"

"Sorta?"

"Well, I mean, I still can't fly and spend most of my time plummeting,"

"At least you can get up there,"

"And I'd really like to stay up there,"

"One day,"

"Someday,"

"I'll catch you in the clouds,"

"And I'll see you in the sky."

"G'night D."

"G'night, Scoots,"