//------------------------------// // A Scare of Pink // Story: The Sibling Guardian // by Night-Shade //------------------------------// Shadow was trying not to limp as he slowly made his way to the school house. His body was protesting every movement he made. That mare had really done a number on him last night. His left eye would have been blue if his coat was another color, thankful that his coat was a dark grey so his eye was only a slightly darker grey than normal. Most ponies would not notice something small like that. His right side was aching with every breath he took. He was glad his ribs weren’t broken. She had bucked him hard enough that they could have punctured a lung. He was lucky that he wasn’t coughing up blood. His right hind leg had taken the worst injury though. She had stomped down on his leg after she had bucked him in the ribs, he had flown into a wall from her buck. His leg had not been broken but it had hurt like Tartarus to pop his cannon bone back into place. She still had a lot of power in those legs of her, even if she hadn’t really done anything in years. She was a very fit and strong mare in her glory days and it didn’t seem that she had lost much muscle since she started hitting the bottle. A cool breeze gently ruffled his mane as he stopped and closed his eyes. He lifted his head a bit to try and forget his pain and focus solely on the wind. It only partially worked as he started to long for the feeling of freedom that all pegasi got from flight. He had never flown or been flown before, he also knew he wouldn’t ever be able to fly. His wings had been broken in the first year he was thrown out and living with that mare. He had lived with the pain for five and a half years already. Way too much time for his wings to be fixed, even if he went to the hospital right now, he knew that it would be the worst thing he could do to his sisters. He had no choice but to continue on the path he was on. It was clearly the lesser of two evils. His musing came to an end when he felt the breeze stop. He opened his eyes and started to slowly walk towards the school again. He was not looking forward to washing dishes at the restaurant this afternoon. He just hoped his sisters had made plans to play with their friends this afternoon. Them playing would make it a lot easier to hide his injuries from them. He stopped under the same tree that he had stood under the previous day to wait for his sisters. At that same moment the school door burst open with a horde of laughing foals rushing out. His sisters were a part of the small crowd of foals and immediately made their way over to him. The three Crusaders were with them as well, they all made their way over to him. He saw Scootaloo had a small blush on her face as they came closer. She was clearly trying to not look at him, but she couldn’t keep it up for long. Her friend Apple Bloom nudged her and whispered something to her with a giggle. The twins suddenly got huge grins on their faces as they watched expectantly. Scootaloo sighed and finally looked up into Shadow’s eyes. Her muzzle turned completely red as she scuffed a hoof on the ground. “Hi,” whispered Scootaloo. It was so soft he almost missed that she spoke at all. This time Sweetie Belle nudged her. Scootaloo flinched slightly and cleared her throat. “Hi. I don’t think we have been introduced yet. My name is Scootaloo,” said Scootaloo. She shyly held out her hoof for a bump. He gave her a small genuine smile and hooked his hoof under hers and gently lifted it while bowing his own head to give her hoof a kiss like a proper gentlecolt should. “My name is Shadow. It’s nice to finally meet you in pony,” said Shadow. Scootaloo sputtered with a red face as she tried and failed to speak. The faces of her two best friends each broke out in identical blushes as they saw this. They immediately started whispering together excitedly. The twins on the other hoof, broke down into giggles as they saw Scootaloo’s face. They had clearly been waiting for this moment since this morning. He was suddenly glad that he didn’t get embarrassed by ponies showing emotions. He had dealt with a lot of pain and abuse for most of his life. When something like this happened, he just enjoyed the happiness and excitement those situations brought. “Ah’m Apple Bloom,” the yellow filly introduced herself. “My name is Sweetie Belle,” the other filly said. “Shadow,” he said with a slight bow of his head. The twins were still giggling. He started berating himself for telling his sisters early on that it was okay to tease him or their friends. He had made sure to drive the point home that they should never go overboard with their teasing or actually hurt others with their words. “You two are enjoying this aren’t you?” Shadow asked the twins with a raised eyebrow. They nodded and started chuckling again. Scootaloo had finally found her voice again. “Uhm… Anyway. I was wondering… um, if maybe you wanted to join me at Sugercube Corner tomorrow after school? My treat of course,” Scootaloo asked haltingly. “Sure, I would like that,” said Shadow. Scootaloo’s face split into a gigantic grin and she jumped with a loud “Yes!” When she landed, she immediately blushed again and smiled sheepishly at Shadow. He merely chuckled and gave a wink to show he wouldn’t tease her. Scootaloo’s smile turned grateful, but it seemed she had forgotten her friends behind her as they broke out in loud guffaws. Scootaloo just ignored her friends and smiled at Shadow happily. The twins had finally stopped giggling and were standing next to their big brother looking rather happy. After a few more seconds one of them spoke. “Miss Rarity asked us to tell you that she want’s all of us to go to her boutique after school. She said something about measurements,” said Clear Breeze. “Very well. Let’s be off,” said Shadow. He turned the side and raised a foreleg so the fillies could all go first. They all started trotting past him, but Scootaloo stopped when she drew level with him and he fell into place at her side. As they made their way back towards the small town Scootaloo looked at him and smiled softly. “Thank you for agreeing to the date,” she said softly with a genuine smile. Shadow looked over into the eyes of the beautiful filly at his side. Wait! Did I just call her beautiful? He thought slightly surprised at his thoughts. Well, she really is kind of beautiful. All three of them are in their own way. Her eyes just immediately catch my attention. He slowly calmed down and tried to make his voice work. “Anytime Scootaloo. I’m really glad you asked,” Shadow gently said. Scootaloo just continued to smile happily. “They bullied you into this, didn't they?” asked Shadow. “Yup. All five of them, if you include Rarity. But I’m also kind of glad they did,” said Scootaloo with a small blush. Shadow just chuckled and shook his head while still struggling to hide his limp. Wait a minute! He screeched at himself. It took all of his willpower to continue walking with the filly next to him and not just freeze. Sugercube Corner is where the Pink One normally is. Buck me!... Calm, just stay calm, that’s tomorrows problem. Focus on the now. They walked in relatively comfortable silence until Rarity’s boutique came into view. Sweetie Belle opened the door and they all filed in. “Rarity! We’re here!” shouted Sweetie Belle. “Coming darlings,” Rarity sang. A moment later Rarity trotted out of her kitchen. The smell of tea was still on the air. Shadow was busy wondering who she was entertaining when he saw a ball of fuzzy pink bouncing up and down behind Rarity. Shadow’s eyes shot wide open, his wings twitched and a jolt of agony spiked through them. His wings would have splayed out if they weren’t broken. Normally that was a sign of stress or excitement for pegasi, but in this situation he was grateful that they were broken and they couldn’t give him away. The Pink One was here and he could barely hold on to his panic as it strained to get away from him. His body instantly froze as he moved his attention inward, he focused on his pegasus magic and changed how it flowed like he had taught himself. He focused his magic solely on the pink mare and himself, erasing himself from her senses. She could now be standing right in front of him and staring at him, but she would not remember seeing him. He had used this magic to keep himself and the twins away from her for the past four months. It had taken a lot out of him, but he could not risk her throwing a party at their house. He could not even let her throw a birthday party for the twins as that would start ponies thinking about their mother and why she was not there with them. He could not risk any investigations by foal services yet. “Hi girls! I hear you have a date tomorrow Scoots. I can’t wait to see who the lucky colt is. I’ll make you some of my special triple chocolate cupcakes for the date. It’s gonna be awesometacular,” the pink mare said all in one breath. She continued to ramble on and on the words all blurring together. Shadow had tuned her out by the second sentence and was just trying to keep his magic flowing to keep him unnoticed. All of a sudden Pinkie looked at her flank, gasped and disappeared in a dust cloud as she shot out of the boutique faster than anypony could react. Everything was frozen for a moment before Pinkie reappeared and yelled at Rarity. “Come on Rares! Twi is waiting for us at the castle,” said Pinkie. Rarity cocked her head in confusion that cleared when she saw Pinkie’s cutie mark pulse with a soft glow. Pinkie disappeared again in another puff of dust. Rarity then looked at her own mark and saw that it was pulsing as well. She heaved a heavy sigh. The thought of her needing to go with Pinkie of all ponies was not entirely welcome. Pinkie could just be too much sometimes. “Girls, it seems that there is a friendship problem that me and Pinkie have to go deal with,” Rarity said with a shudder. “I will take your measurements when I get back. And as for you Scootaloo, I will make you a dress for your next date.” Scootaloo nodded and looked mostly happy with just a hint of disappointment. When Shadow was sure that the Pink One was gone, he released his magic along with the breath he had been holding. “Another sleepover! Awesome!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle. The three Crusaders were looking at each other with excitement. The twins looked kind of sad until they saw that their friends were looking at them expectantly. “Can you two come to another sleepover?” Sweetie Belle asked. The twin’s faces lit up in excitement as they looked over at their brother and saw him give them a loving smile and a nod. “Yes!” all five of them chorused. During all this Shadow looked up at Rarity and realized he had made a mistake. He had focused his magic so hard on the Pink One that he had completely forgotten that Rarity was also there and he didn’t use his magic on her. She was looking at him with a confused frown on her face. It was clear she now suspected something. It was unusual for Pinkie to not notice a pony, especially when said pony was in her direct line of sight. She wanted to start questioning the colt but she had other more important priorities at the moment. “Come along girls. We will go to Twilight’s castle and sort out at who’s house you will be having the sleepover,” said Rarity. They all trotted outside and started to walk towards the beautiful crystal castle on the edge of town. “I’ll see you lovely fillies later,” Shadow said with a small head bow. “Clear, Windy, come tell me at whose house you will be sleeping over tonight. I’ll be at the restaurant until closing.” The three Crusaders blushed at his compliment while Rarity hid a titter behind a hoof. Windy and Clear both nodded happily and cantered off with their friends and Rarity. Rarity shot a last look over her shoulder at the colt as he slowly made his way towards the center of town. She frowned as she saw his back-right leg buckle slightly as if it was injured. Rarity felt a sense of dread creep over her as she walked away. She knew that she would have to keep a close eye on the foals when she came back. Rarity kept her gaze on the colt for another few seconds then shook her head and looked towards her friend’s castle, she mentally prepared herself to face pinkie’s energy and the friendship mission she would be going on with her.