The sweat was pouring off of Shadow as he hauled his latest basket of apples to the barn. It was one of the last few hot days of summer before the running of the leaves next week. The fillies had talked about joining in this year with the group of other foals who ran a shorter race just before the big ponies had theirs. There had never been prizes for the winners, but this year Pinkie Pie had made an agreement with the mayor to turn the day into a festival. They had even made the arrangements that the winners of the races would receive some bits. It promised to be heaps of fun everypony had agreed.
As he emptied the apples into a barrel and pounded the lid securely, Big Mac wandered into the barn with a basket of his own on his back. Big Mac smiled at the colt as he emptied his own basket.
“How much ya got left?” asked Big Mac.
Shadow smiled at the big stallion and said, “Just four more trees left then I’m done for the day. How about you?”
Big Mac nodded once in approval and said, “Tha’ was the last of mah chores. I’ma go get granny and the wagon from the market. Will ya go get the fillies when yer done?”
Shadow just gave Big Mac a nod and made his way back to the west orchard for the last of the apples he had to harvest today.
Shadow absolutely loved it on the big apple farm. It was quiet, smelled strongly of those wonderful apples and it felt safe. His sisters both loved it there as well, there was so much room for them to run around and play with their friends. If he could have moved them to the farm permanently, he would have done so in a heartbeat.
The twins had already mostly moved in, they slept at the red farm house every single night, except when they had a sleepover at Lady Rarity’s boutique or at Scootaloo’s house. They only had a few spare coloring books back at the house where he spent most nights.
Shadow knew that if any of the Apple family knew what happened in that house on an almost daily basis, they would throw a massive fit and have him move to the farm immediately. He sighed as he thought about why he still put up with that mare.
I do it for my sisters, they deserve a better life.
Shadow repeated that mantra a few times. He then shook himself and got back to work. If he remembered correctly Princess Twilight was supposed to visit the school today to evaluate the twins and their wing writing. He chuckled at the mental image of the purple alicorn showing up at the school with a few dozen charts and graphs along with three empty notebooks that would be full when she left.
He had only met her a few times when the fillies had a sleepover in the castle after a day of Crusading. Apparently Princess Twilight had thought ahead and cast a sap repelling charm on the book she had lent to the fillies as they tried to get the twins some cutie marks. It was good foresight on her part because for the first and only time since they he had met the three original Crusaders, the five fillies had been covered head to hoof in tree sap.
It had taken three hours of scrubbing to remove all the tree sap from them. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had delegated most of that task to him to the immense amusement of the adult mares. He shook his head in amused remembrance of that day and made his way back to the barn with the last haul of apples. He made sure to shut the barn door tightly as he stretched and started down the road towards the school house.
Scootaloo was vibrating in her seat as she tried to not start bouncing with excitement. Twilight was supposed to show up at school today to officially test the wing writing the twins had shown miss Cheerilee that first day.
Even though the three original Crusaders had gotten their cutie marks, they still went to see Twilight at her castle every week for Twilight-time. They had brought the twins along ever since they had become friends and they loved spending time with Twilight just as much as the three older fillies did. It seemed as though Twilight enjoyed their time together even more than the fillies did.
Twilight had calmed down a lot since she had become a princess. She was still bound to start panicking whenever Princess Celestia asked something of her or when she came to visit, but with the rest she had calmed considerably.
Scootaloo couldn’t wait for Twilight to show up and finally approve of wing writing in her official capacity as princess. Scootaloo wanted to be able to use wing writing in school, something she couldn’t yet do as it was not yet allowed, Miss Cheerilee was very strict like that. At least she could use it to do her homework, but it would be so nice to finally use wing writing in school. Even the other pegasi foals looked excited, but Scootaloo had a distinct advantage, the twins had already taught her how to wing write.
It looked as if Miss Cheerilee was just about to reprimand Scootaloo about her lack of attention when there was a knock on the door. Miss Cheerilee frowned at the interruption and glanced back at Scootaloo with narrowed eyes. Scootaloo gulped in relief when her teacher said nothing and walked over to answer the door.
“Hello. Come in, come in,” said Miss Cheerilee.
In walked an off-white pegasus with a yellow mane and tail. Scootaloo was confused for just a second, but before she could even ask a question in her head, Princess Twilight walked in behind the new mare. A huge smile spread across Scootaloo’s face and she started bouncing in her seat.
“What is your name miss?” asked Miss Cheerilee.
“This is Inked Feather of the Canterlot Education System. Hi Cheerilee,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle.
The mare nodded politely at Cheerilee and turned her gaze to all the foals present with a happy smile on her face.
Cheerilee smiled at her friend and said, “Hi Twilight. I think a certain somepony simply couldn’t wait for you.”
Twilight cocked her head to the side as she looked over at the foals sitting at their desks and saw that Scootaloo was bouncing in her seat with a wide smile on her face, Twilight just rolled her eyes in amusement.
Scootaloo saw the new mare was startled when Miss Cheerilee had talked so casually with Twilight but she didn’t say anything. All five of the Crusaders then got mischievous smirks on their faces as they could see that this new mare would be fun to mess with.
“Hello, my little ponies,” said Princess Twilight.
“Hello Princess Twilight,” the foals chanted back.
The three original Crusaders and the twins just smirked and called out after the other foals. “Hi Twilight!”
Twilight rolled her eyes in amusement and said, “Hello Crusaders.”
The new mare from Canterlot looked at the five fillies with wide eyes, she was about to scold them for not showing respect to a princess but by the time she wanted to speak Twilight had already started her explanation as to why they were there.
“We are here today to officially evaluate the wing writing the twins have displayed. I have already done a few examinations and tests on this on my own in the castle but I need a pony from the education system to also witness these evaluations in pony. Therefore, I would like all the pegasi to come with us to the playground where we won’t disturb Cheerilee and the others from their lessons,” explained Princess Twilight.
There was a stampede of foals as all the pegasi in the class charged outside, Scootaloo in the lead and the twins hot on her hooves.
Cheerilee chuckled and shook her head in amusement as Princess Twilight and miss Inked Feather followed the pegasi foals. She turned back to the foals that remained and continued her lesson.
Scootaloo was bouncing as she sat in the shade of their tree while the twins were demonstrating their wing writing to the new mare. Twilight had already done her tests in the second week of school when the Crusaders dragged the twins along for their Twilight-time.
Scootaloo knew Twilight loved it when they came to visit and had something new for them to do every single time. At first, she had to constantly scold them until they learned that she hated being called princess, to them and the all of her friends she was just Twilight. She said she didn’t want them to treat her any different.
Scootaloo’s attention was drawn back to the present as Twilight called her and explained to the Canterlot mare that the twins had already taught Scootaloo how to write with her wings. She then had Scootaloo demonstrate and she did so with gusto. The mare seemed satisfied and she was allowed to sit under their tree and relax with the twins as Twilight made some papers appear and started to teach the rest of the foals how to write using their wings.
A few minutes later the other foals were spread out in the playground, each with a quill held in their wings and practicing writing. Twilight and the Canterlot mare were walking among them, helping here and there if a foal struggled.
Scootaloo was quietly talking with the twins when she became aware of attention focused on her and the twins. She made sure to keep talking but looked around subtly and spotted the pony watching them. It was a grey pegasus colt with a grey-blue mane and tail, he was a year younger than her and his name was Rumble. It seemed his attention wasn’t on her but the twins. Scootaloo watched him and saw him slightly blush and quickly look down at his practice paper as one of the twins looked in his direction.
Scootaloo smirked evilly and chuckled at the twins. They both cocked their heads to the side with raised eyebrows at her.
Scootaloo shook her head and said, “It looks like the two of you have an admirer.”
Scootaloo tilted her head at the colt sitting a few pony lengths away who jerked his head up as soon as he heard her. The twins looked over at the colt who blushed a bright red as soon as he realized Scootaloo was talking about him and the twins looked at him. He hastily dropped his head and tried to go back to his wing writing practice.
Scootaloo snickered softly and called out, “Hey Rumble, wanna join us? I’m sure the twins can give you a few pointers.”
Rumble looked back up so fast it seemed as if he was one of those bobble-head ponies she had seen in some of the tourist shops when she went to Couldsdale with Rainbow.
“A-are you sure?” asked Rumble.
The twins looked at him with interest and nodded, Windy waved him over with a wing. The twins moved a bit so that there was a space for him in between them. Rumble blushed brightly as he settled down between the twins. Scootaloo had to hold a hoof to her mouth to hide her grin and laughter. Scootaloo saw that Twilight had seen the whole thing and had a hoof to her own mouth as well.
“I’ll be right back, just need to ask Twilight something,” said Scootaloo.
Scootaloo stood up and made her way over to Twilight. Twilight’s eyes were still on the twins and she saw that the twins had both leaned against the colt who had frozen and was again beet red.
Twilight chuckled and affectionately ran her hoof through Scootaloo’s mane. Scootaloo leaned against her enjoying the affection.
“How you doing Scoots? No growth spurt yet?” asked Twilight.
“Naw not yet, I’m hoping for next month,” replied Scootaloo.
“Hmm. That seems promising,” said Twilight while gesturing to the twins.
“Yeah, he’s a good colt. Rainbow knows his brother well,” said Scootaloo.
Twilight nodded and looked down at the filly who was leaning against her.
“So, what’s up?” asked Twilight.
“Just wanted to ask if Twilight-time is still on for today?” asked Scootaloo.
“Of course it is. Just come an hour later than usual. I have to talk to miss Inked Feather and walk her back to the train station,” said Twilight.
Scootaloo nodded and contently nuzzled into Twilight’s side with closed eyes. Twilight wrapped a wing around the filly and happily gazed out at the other foals who were learning to write with their wings.
The five fillies were sitting on the warm grass in the park. Shadow had met them after school and he had taken them back to the farm to eat, afterwards they went to play in the park. They had just finished a game of tag and all five of them were panting from all the running. Sweetie Belle looked up at the sun and then looked over at towards the town hall to see what the time is.
“It’s about time for us to go to Twilight’s castle, you fillies ready?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Four agreements were her answer. They all stood up, shook themselves and started towards the scooter and wagon parked in the shade of a nearby tree. Their saddlebags were also there in the shade. Scootaloo strapped her helmet on and waited for the other fillies to pile into the wagon and put on their own helmets. Once they were all inside, she pushed off with a hoof and started buzzing her wings to move them.
It was even better exercise when the twins started riding in the wagon with the other two, it was now actually difficult for her and took a while longer for her to get up to the speed she was used to. She absolutely loved it and even Rainbow was impressed with her when she saw her pulling all four of her friends the first time. Before she could even get enough speed to stop pushing with her hoof Apple Bloom spoke up.
“Wait! Do ya fillies have yer coloring books here? I remember Twilight saying she wanted to see ya three feather-heads using yer wings to color today,” said Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo looked back at her friends and nodded her head. Sweetie Belle also nodded, but the twins shook their heads.
“Our coloring books are at home,” said Windy Skies.
“Well, let’s go get them then,” said Scootaloo.
She had already turned and started to push with her hoof again when Clear Breeze stopped her.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Our brother said to never be in the house if he is not there with us,” said Clear Breeze.
Windy nodded along with her sister, but the looks of confusion on her three friends faces made her frown.
“Why not?” asked Scootaloo.
Clear Breeze shrugged as Windy spoke, “I’m not sure why he said that, but we promised.”
“O come on! We will be quick, I’m not going all the way to Sweet Apple Acres just to have to go all the way back to town when we are already so close,” complained Scootaloo.
Her friends were nodding along as the twins looked at each other. They sighed but quickly agreed that it wasn’t necessary to go get their brother.
“Fine! But we are going to be super quick,” exclaimed Windy Skies.
“Alright! Um, where is your house?” asked Scootaloo.
Scootaloo had a huge smile on her face as the wind blew through her mane as they made their way towards the twin’s house. As they slid to a stop next to a well-worn house Scootaloo’s smile fell. There was no garden, only a bunch of weeds in the unkempt grass, the house itself looked a bit imposing and had there was a feeling of unease when she looked at it. The twins and her other two friends seemed to be fine and quickly hopped out of the wagon and put their helmets inside.
As they reached the front door Clear stopped and looked over at the three older fillies.
“Two things before we go in, quick and quiet. We go in quickly and get our coloring books, it’s in our room. Now we don’t make a sound after we go in okay? Not a sound!” explained Clear Breeze.
The three older fillies gulped at her serious expression and nodded to show they understood. Clear gazed at them for a few more seconds then reached out a hoof and opened the door. As all five of them trotted in and the front closed all other ambient sound was cut off. The house was as quiet as tomb and pretty chilly.
The slight unease Scootaloo had felt when she looked at the house was now an almost oppressive force, even Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nervously glanced around. Clear Breeze stepped in front of them, turned and placed a hoof over her mouth. The three older fillies nodded and followed her as she led them past the kitchen. There was a door to their right that the twins went through that turned out to be their bedroom.
Scootaloo saw a closed door that probably led to the sitting room further down the hall before she also walked into the room but stopped just inside the door. As soon as she saw the bedroom of the twins her jaw dropped. It was the most bland and depressing bedroom she had ever seen. There was only a single bed in one corner without even a pillow on it. The sheets on the bed were so thin that they would not provide any amount warmth in the winter whatsoever.
The walls were barren and there were no toys anywhere she could see. The twins had decorated Apple Bloom’s room with most of their drawings, that is where they spent almost every single night and Apple Bloom loved it that the twins were there.
She looked over at the where her friends were and she saw the twins putting their coloring books in their saddle bags. They smiled at turned towards the door to make their way back outside when a door slammed loudly in the hall. The twins had frozen with unreadable looks on their faces while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had jumped at the sound.
All of a sudden there was the sound of heavy breathing and angry snorting coming from the door. Scootaloo’s back was still to the door, but before she could turn around, she saw her friends looked scared. She turned and saw a grey pegasus mare with a silver mane and tail. The mare looked extremely dirty and had bloodshot eyes. She gazed down at Scootaloo with a deep scowl on her face.
“Uhm… hi ma’am. My name is Scootaloo and this is-” Scootaloo started when the mare interrupted her.
“You…” came a hoarse whisper from the mare.
Scootaloo frowned as the mare seemed to recognize her, but she was sure she had never seen this mare before in her life.
Before she could say another word, there was fire in the mare’s eyes and she started shouting, “You! You cost me everything! You will pay!”
The mare lifted a hoof as if to stomp down on Scootaloo. Scootaloo’s ears fell down and pressed tightly to her head as fear filled her heart. She and her friends were all frozen in fear as the hoof descended.
Before the hoof had even made it halfway to her a dark grey blur slammed into the mare’s barrel and she was thrown down the hall along with the blur. Scootaloo sank down on her haunches in relief as the immediate danger had passed. Suddenly Shadow was in the door yelling at them.
“Go! Get out of here, now! Go get one of the Bearers,” shouted Shadow.
Clear Breeze immediately turned to the window and opened it. Windy grabbed Apple Bloom and pushed her to the window and forced her through it. Clear had stepped back and grabbed Sweetie Belle as she sat frozen on the floor still looking at the door. Sweetie Belle yelped as Windy helped her sister to throw her through the window. The twins both ran back to the door to get Scootaloo as she was still on the floor where she sat and looking at Shadow.
“Shadow-” whispered Scootaloo.
She was still in shock and couldn’t get anything else out. Shadow looked at her with a quick smile and gave her a quick kiss.
“Go, I’ll buy you some time. Just go get one of the Bearers,” said Shadow.
There was a loud groan from the hallway and the sound of a pony getting to her feet. Shadow glanced back to the hallway and looked back at the twins and gave them a quick jerk of his head towards the window. The twins immediately started dragging Scootaloo to the window and jumped through with her. Just before she lost sight of Shadow, she saw him charge back out the door and to the right down the hallway towards that terrible mare.
Scootaloo was aware of the twins shouting at her but didn’t respond until a hoof met her cheek. With a yelp she shook her head quick and looked at Windy who had just hit her.
“Come on Scoots! We gotta go!” shouted Windy Skies.
The twins shoved her towards her scooter while the two older fillies followed quickly.
“Who are we supposed to get? Ah’ll our sisters are not here and ah have no idea where we could find Pinkie,” said Apple Bloom.
“Twilight! We go to Twilight. We were on our way to see her anyway and the castle isn’t that far,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Okay. Twilight. Sure,” stammered Scootaloo.
The fillies all piled into the wagon while Scootaloo got on her Scooter. Luckily as soon as the scooter and wagon started moving, she seemed to snap out of it and then she really picked up speed. She wanted to get to Twilight as soon as possible. Her worry for Shadow now took over everything else.
None of the fillies said a word as they almost flew towards the castle. For Scootaloo it was all a blur, she didn’t see or hear any of the things the ponies in her way shouted as the five fillies blasted past them. The next thing to register to Scootaloo was that they were at the castle and the scooter skidded to a stop. As soon as they stopped moving, they were all charging into the castle ignoring the two guards stationed next to the doors. The guards were well used to their shenanigans and knew they were allowed into the castle at any time.
“Twilight!” rang out through the crystal hallways as the five fillies frantically shouted.
There was a flash of purple light and Twilight was suddenly in front of them.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight called out.
The five fillies were shouting over each other but Twilight only heard Scootaloo over the others because she was closest and the loudest.
“Twilight! She’s gonna hurt him. Please, we need to go help Shadow!” shouted Scootaloo.
“Show me where!” Twilight called out.
Twilight levitated Scootaloo onto her back and galloped back towards the front entrance. Twilight skidded to a stop at the doors and barked at the guards stationed there.
“Captain! Gather a squad and follow the four fillies.” – She gestured towards the four foals who were still galloping towards her, as they reached her, she said, – “Fillies tell him and the other guards where to go. Lieutenant you’re with me,” ordered Twilight.
Twilight spread her wings and took off with the pegasus guard hot on her hooves.
“Where to Scootaloo?” asked Twilight.
The filly on her back shook in fear, but could still direct them towards that dreaded house.
Time slowed as the hoof descended, Shadow heart clenched as he thought of his sisters and his fillyfriends. He knew he would never see them again, at least he had the consolation that the twins would be properly looked after. There was a flash of light and a loud bang. The hoof froze in it’s decent and time resumed.
He looked over at the door and the first thing he saw was Princess Twilight. Her wings were flared wide and there was fire in her eyes as she took in the scene. The next thing he saw was that Scootaloo was on her back and she was looking at him with fear still in her eyes. The third thing he saw was one of Princess Twilight’s pegasi guards, his spear drawn and he was shouting at the mare standing over him.
He looked up at the mare again and saw that she had looked back down at him and drew her hoof back to end what she had started. A blast of purple magic hit her in the side threw her away from him and she crashed through a wall.
Scootaloo jumped down from Twilight’s back and charged over towards him. She was fully intending to glomp onto him but before she could get too close the pegasus guard caught her and held her away from Shadow. She was struggling and kicking to get to her colt but the words from the guard stopped her cold.
“Wait little one. If you so much as touch him you can hurt him worse than he is,” the guard said.
She stopped struggling and the guard put her down next to Shadow. She looked down at him and brought her face as close to his without touching him as she could.
“Shadow, are you ok?” Scootaloo asked with tears streaming down her face.
Shadow knew he shouldn’t speak and just gave her a slow wink. The ghost of a smile spread across her face for a moment before it turned back to worry. The guard was already busy examining his injuries.
Twilight had meanwhile walked over to the hole in the wall and looking through at the mare who had scared the fillies and hurt Shadow. Before she could really examine the comatose mare lying in the rubble her guard got her attention.
“Princess! He needs immediate medical attention. A stasis spell is required right now or we are gonna lose him,” the guard shouted.
Twilight immediately turned around, jerked her head at the hole in the wall and said, “You take care of that, I’ll get him to the hospital.”
Twilight trotted up to Shadow and her magic surrounded him and gently lifted him into the air. At the same time Scootaloo was levitated to her back again as she teleported to the hospital entrance.
“Medic!” Twilight yelled as soon as she appeared.
The reception nurse looked startled as Twilight teleported in but was quickly shaken out of it as a doctor galloped out of one of the rooms down the hall.
The doctor took one look at the colt held in Twilight’s magic and started yelling, “Nurse! Get a surgery team to ER one, stat!”
“Yes doctor!” the nurse called back.
“Bring him this way Princess,” said the doctor.
Twilight nodded and trotted after the doctor as Scootaloo felt even more tears spill down her face.