//------------------------------// // Night 11 // Story: Nights on Horlick's Hill // by RarityEQM //------------------------------// Diamond Dancer was not on Horlick's Hill when Scootaloo had arrived, which, while odd, was not something completely out of the ordinary for her. Perhaps she'd been summoned by princess Luna for an important errand, or perhaps she was still wandering through Everfree on one of her 'missions' to collect flowers that only grew at night and deep in the dense forest. Or perhaps she simply forgot. But the last idea was borderline preposterous. Diamond would never miss the opportunity to talk about her favorite thing in the whole wide world: stars. The little orange pegasus quietly trekked up the side of the hill to its summit and surveyed the area. There. A flash of light near the Everfree forest. Even with a pegasus's eyesight, the darkness obscured most of her vision, but every few moments or so, Scootaloo caught sight of a bright flash, and the silhouette of a small filly within it. That was her alright. Scootaloo gripped her scooter tightly and revved her wings, launching herself down the hill at rocket speed and made a bee-line for the silver filly in the distance. As she got closer, Diamonds actions became clearer and clearer, and yet, still puzzling to say the least. The girl was slamming her head into the trunk of a tree, over and over and over again. Was she practicing? Training herself for brutal combat against the more sinister denizens of Everfree? Did a crystal pegasus with nearly unbreakable crystallized skin really need to practice for combat? "DAZZLING DASH!! DAZZLING DASH!! DAZZLING DASH!!" Diamond yelled, each exclamation punctuated with a burst of unnatural speed and a glittering explosion of sparkles when she hit the tree. She'd flop down onto her tummy, climb back to her hooves and rear back to do it again. Scootaloo winced. Diamond often liked to brag about 'fighting monsters' in Everfree forest, and often spoke of her 'Dazzling Dash' as her go-to move for combat situations. But this didn't seem like a combat situation, nor did it seem like the tree presented any kind of threat and if Scootaloo had to guess, Diamond sounded angry. She liked to shout the names of her moves and listen to her voice echoing off the trees like some sort of superhero from comic books, but while her voice was usually loud and energetic, tonight it sounded frustrated. Scootaloo watched quietly, not entirely sure if she should interrupt. Diamond reared back again and raced forward, flinging her body through the air and crashing into the tree with a jarring thump. This time when she got up she simply stood there, shoulders quivering and breathing heavily. "What?" she snapped. Oh, yeah, she sounded mad. She hadn't turned towards Scootaloo but addressed her anyway. It was terribly difficult to sneak up on a pony with enhanced hearing. Scootaloo winced again and gently climbed off of her scooter. "Uh...hey, D...You okay? You soun-" Scootaloo sputtered, but Diamond cut her off, violently shaking her head. "I'm fine," she growled. She reared back and charged forward again. This time there was not a vibrant flash of light when she charged towards the tree, no unnatural burst of speed and no explosion of glitter when she collided. She crawled back to her hooves and trudged over to Scootaloo, her face stained with streaks that glistened in the moonlight. Had she been crying? "Well, it's Friday. We usually hang out on Horlicks right about now. I was up there and saw you down here and thought you looked a little upset, so, I figured maybe if you wanted to talk..." Scootaloo cooed quietly. Diamond reached a hoof up to rub at her nose and sniffled. "N-no. I'm fine. I'm...I'm... fine. H-hey Scootaloo, my wings ain't ugly, right? I- I mean they're...fine, right? They're fine. They're still silver, ain't they?" The crystal filly squeaked suddenly, turning towards Scootaloo with watery eyes. Scootaloo paused for a moment before she nodded her head. "Yeah. Yeah they're fine! Cooler than mine! I mean, silver wings are awesome! They shine in the light and-" Scootaloo paused, noticing Diamond struggling to keep her emotions in check. She frowned and slowly sat down on the grass in front of the other girl. ".......Who said your wings were ugly?" she asked quietly. Scootaloo was no stranger to pent up rage. The kind that spilled out into angry tears like the ones Diamond was holding back right now. She knew what caused those all to well. The filly before her hiccuped and rubbed her eyes, doing her best to find what composure she could. "Nopony. They're just dumb," Diamond huffed. Bitterly. Scootaloo frowned. Diamond often liked to tell tall tales. She embellished her exploits often, and exaggerated her feats of bravery and skill, but here? Now? Scootaloo could tell Diamond was lying though her teeth. She could hear it in the forced responses and held back anguish. Scootaloo nodded her head quietly. Maybe a change of subject was in order. "Hey, how was your trip to Cloudsdale today? Did you make it? You said Luna was sending you up there to fetch her some sort of tea?" Scootaloo asked, scanning Diamonds face. The girl winced as if panged by a sudden bad memory but nodded her head. "Asperitas," Diamond said quietly, reaching a hoof up to rub at her nose again. "I...I hate that place so much..." she sputtered, her voice trembling as she spoke. Scootaloo quietly nodded her head again. She'd suspected her trip to the city in the sky had something to do with all of this, but she didn't know Diamond actually hated Cloudsdale. They always talked about going up there for a day trip. Had Diamond been lying when she said she wanted to visit with her? She didn't need to pry though. The dam was about ready to break anyhow. Diamond was quivering before her, her lower lip trembling despite how hard she was desperately trying to hold onto her brash, indestructible persona. She was supposed to be invincible! "T-the ponies up there is so mean, Scoots. T-they just stare. They all stare at me. I know my wings are all messed up, and I can't fly straight, I know! I-I know. They don't have to stare at them, they don't have to stare, Scoots. I know they're black and ugly, and, and stupid, and, I-I can't do anything about them, I can't. I-I can't. I want to, I tried, really, but I can't. A-and everything up there is so pretty and lovely and c-colorful, and I'm not, and I know I'm not, and, and I ha-have to go up there and, be all ugly and, and there's this girl there, Treasure, and she always, always makes fun of me. She won't let me forget that, th-that I'm all messed up. She won't let me forget, Scoots, and...and...and...and..." Diamond hiccuped, gasping for air as her belly convulsed and her voice got higher and higher still. She wouldn't cry in front of Scootaloo. She would NOT cry in front of Scootaloo. She was stronger than that. She really was. She knew that she was. She was invincible! She was not going to cry. She wouldn't. She couldn't. She did. Scootaloo drew in a breath and let it out through her teeth, forcing down raising anger she could feel burning inside of her. She nodded her head but remained seated, watching Diamond promptly turn away with shuddering shoulders and a trembling chest, sobbing silently in the darkness. By the mare in the moon, why was she such a loser? How could she burst into tears in front of Scootaloo like that? There was no way Scootaloo would want to hang out with her anymore after this. How could she? "I used to get into fights all the time. At the drop of a hat. They made fun of my wings, too. Being too small. Not being able to fly. The works. Ponies like that usually suck. But does Treasure get to work for the Princess? Does Treasure have a magic star around her neck? Does Treasure get to go on cool adventures and then come back and hang out on Horlick's Hill and tell her best friend all about them? Pah! I doubt it." Scootaloo huffed, slowly starting to pace back and forth behind Diamond. "I don't know what Treasure is like, but she can't be all that cool, because she's not the 'Night's Errant!' That's YOUR title that Luna gave to you not her. She doesn't get to have it. Does she get to hang out with Princess Luna? I know I haven't ever seen her around Canterlot, cause if I did, I'd have probably kicked her teeth in," Scootaloo continued. Diamond lurched slightly. Scootaloo grinned. "And what makes her such a 'treasure' anyway? Is she just a talking box of gold coins? Are the coins giving you trouble, Diamond, cause I know an arcade where we can uh...get rid of 'em, if ya know what I mean," Scootaloo said. She'd managed to get closer to Diamond while she was talking, and gently elbowed the girl in the side. This time, Diamond gave a snort, trying not to giggle. She was too distraught to giggle, but Scootaloo was making that a difficult feat to accomplish. Gently, Scootaloo wrapped a foreleg around the smaller filly and squeezed her against her side. "And your wings are only blackened like that because you have Icarus Syndrome, right? You flew up way to high for way too long and you got sick, right? And you only got sick because you did that during some stamina competition to win money for a friend, right? A friend who was in the hospital and needed treatment, right? And that's how you got your cutie-mark right? Correct me if I'm wrong?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond quietly nodded her head with another hiccup. Scootaloo nodded, a grin gently creeping along her lips. "So, allllll this?" Scootaloo asked, lifting one of Diamond's darkened forelegs. "Allll this is proof that you're all kinds of awesome. It's a medal. I mean, look at you! You like stars right? DD, your legs and wings are black like the night sky, and YOU are silver like a star in that sky! Stretch your limbs out, and YOU are a seven-pointed star! You can even grant wishes?! Now how cool is that?!" Scootaloo barked. Diamond cocked her head to the side, reaching up to tend to her tears with a hoof. She'd never thought of it that way before. Yeah. YEAH! She WAS a star! She sniffled again before twisting around and wrapping her legs tightly around Scootaloo's shoulders. "C-can we still hang out?" she whimpered. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Duh," she whispered quietly. "You wanna go look at stars on Horlick's?" Diamond sniffled. Scootaloo nodded her head and gestured to her scooter. "Hop on. I'll give you a ride," she smiled. Diamond smiled too. And they were off.