//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Lost Storm // by Pinkietalia //------------------------------// The roar to the thunder echoed off in the distance. Where the actual storm was, Scootaloo couldn't tell. She pulled her hoof up over her face and pulled the blankets closer to her. Lightning struck and lit up the room around her. There were a couple of grumbles but they soon died down. A tail brushed Scootaloo's nose and she pushed it away with a puff of breath. However, the tail came right back and continued to tickle her nose. Scootaloo blinked awake and saw the rear end of another pony. Disgusted, she sat up and backed away only to trip over another pony. When did all these ponies get into her house? Who were they? What were they doing here? Scootaloo froze as she tried to climb over the sleeping pegasus. The previous day's memories washed over her brain and she remember. Scootaloo was staying at Princess Celestia's castle in Canterlot in Princess Luna's wing. The ponies around her worked under Luna. Some were guards, some were weather ponies, others were just like her. Scootaloo crawled back into her crappy bed and looked around in the darkness. Which of these sleeping lumps were her team mates? Which pegasi in this room would she be flying with? That was, if the rain could be stopped. She sighed and pulled the blanket back overtop of her small body. The beds here were pretty crappy, in fact all they were were just large bunches of hay with blankets, but what could you expect from a princess who wasn't actually a princess? Scootaloo rolled over onto her back but the stra continued to poke into her skin. "I bet the ponies working for Celestia have better beds than this.." She grumbled quietly to herself. There was a chuckle a couple of ponies over. Some pony else was awake with her. One of the lumps got up and shook itself of the hay strands. The pegasus stepped around the sleeping pegasi and over to Scootaloo. When she got closer, Scootaloo saw that she was a light blue with a dark blue windswept mane. It reminded her of Spitfire's mane actually. "I hope those stuck up ponies don't have better beds than us." She sat down and tucked her hooves under her so she didn't take up much room. She was so tiny! She had to be a weather pony. No pony could be a guard or a Shadowbolt and be that tiny! Then again, she was trying to conserve space. "My name's Nightshade. What's a filly like you doing here? Luna got you cleaning the place or something?" Scootaloo fluffed up her feathers and rolled over onto her stomach. "No! I'm the newest member of the Shadowbolts! Princess Luna tested me and everything!" Nightshade seemed surprised. "Newest member of the Shadow-" The mare started laughing. "So you're the pipsqueak that Luna told me about! Prehaps I should introduce myself differently. My name's Nightshade, the captain of the Shadowbolts." Scootaloo's jaw dropped. She was the captain of the Shadowbolts? But she was so small! How on earth did she get onto the team? Nightshade opened up her dark colored wings and Scootaloo understood. She could see the power that she had gained in those wings. The feathers were rigid and appeared to be sharp, but they were soft like regular feathers. Scootaloo had only seen feathers like that on one pegasus before, but they hadn't been this rigid. Rainbow Dash's wings looked a lot like Nightshade's. The rainbow pony had told her that has a pegasus gains more power in their wings, the feathers become more rigid looking against the muscles that were growing in the wing. Scootaloo partically open up one of her wings and looked at her feathers. They were so soft looking. She still had a lot of her down feathers left. The pegasus had been trying to pluck out the down feathers that weren't needed, but it hadn't ended well. "I'm looking forward to flying with you, ah, what's your name?" Nightshade asked. "Scootaloo." "Right. Well, I'm looking forward to flying with you Scootaloo. You'll have to show me what you got." The pegasus got up and folded her wings against her back. "Now get some sleep. We can talk tomorrow." Nightshade walked back over to her bed and flopped down. Scootaloo tried to curl up in the way that Nightshade had, but couldn't get her hooves to tuck under her like that. She'd have to learn to make herself smaller somehow. There were far too many ponies here! Once she had gotten into a some what comfortable position, Scootaloo closed her eyes and pulled her hoof over her face to block out what little light was left. Tomorrow she would fly with Nightshade and the Shadowbolts. Tomorrow she would send a letter to Ponyville telling them that she hadn't become a weather pony and there had been a change of plans. Tomorrow...dear Celestia there was so much that was going to happen tomorrow! Scootaloo groaned and lifted her head off her hooves. There was no way she was going to sleep tonight! The pegasus stood up and stretched. She might as well explore the castle while she could. She'd be so busy tomorrow that Scootaloo wouldn't have a chance to look around. The filly stepped around the sleeping ponies and headed towards the large door. Once she reached it, she made sure no pony had woken up or was currently awake. The coast was clear. Scootaloo pushed on the door with her hooves and opened it. She was surprised that it opened without a single sound. She had been expecting a loud creaking sound or something like that. Instead it opened up silently and the pegasus slipped out into the dark hallway. Scootaloo began to walk down the hall looking at the walls. There were paintings of famous ponies and the princesses hung on the walls along with some nice little decorations. Scootaloo continued down the quiet hall. The only sound was her hooves against the polished floor. She turned and headed down the next hallway. Scootaloo spotted a door cracked open not far ahead. Light poured out of the crack and the pegasus found herself curious. She walked over to the door and stuck her nose in, opening the door up a couple of inches. She didn't put her whole head in just in case there was an important offical in there. Inside she saw Princess Luna. She was talking to some other pony, but Scootaloo couldn't see who it was. It was some pony important, that was for sure. Although, after listening to the conversation, Scootaloo assumed that Luna was talking to her sister Celestia. "My dear older sister, how are we to test fly our newest member of the Shadowbolts when this rain continues to pour? We'd very much like it if your weather team could clear it." Luna said, keeping her head held high as she spoke to her older sister. Scootaloo found it strange. They were sisters and yet they still acted so regal around each other. Didn't they ever lighten up? "Relax my younger sister. You know as well as I do that this rain isn't ending. No pony can clear it and we must keep it this way. Ponies could hurt themselves trying. I know very well this spell won't be broken. I made sure." Celestia replied. She looked to the window where the rain was hitting against. "Celestia, are you sure you can keep this up? Some pony might figure it out eventually. We fear for you. Some pony might break the curse." Luna replied. Celestia seemed to already know this fact. "I am aware of that, Luna. For now we'll let them sit in their own oblivion. We took care of those who knew." Scootaloo gasped and backed away. They weren't-? They couldn't-! The pegasus turned around and galloped back down the hall towards the sleeping room. Her heart was pounding in her chest and fear flooded through her veins. She didn't just hear that! She was just dreaming! Scootaloo was just caught in a run away dream. The pegasus continued to tell that to herself, but she wasn't calmed. Scootaloo spotted the door to the sleeping room and galloped over. Carefully with shaking hooves Scootaloo opened the door and closed it behind her. She took in a couple of shakey breaths and folded her ruffled wings against her spine. Scootaloo's mind was completely blank with fear. The filly crept over the sleeping bodies and over to her own pile of hay. Scootaloo curled up and forced herself to calm down. Tomorrow she would talk to Luna and sort this whole thing out. Perhaps she had just heard a snippit of the conversation and assumed. Yet she was still terrified of what she had heard. Of what she shouldn't have heard. Why did she have to be curious? Why couldn't she just go straight to bed after talking to Nightshade? Scootaloo wished she could go back in time and stop herself. The filly took in a breath and sighed. She let her mind forget everything and just let go. Worrying right now would only accomplish one thing and that was not getting a goodnight's sleep for tomorrow. Scootaloo's mind began to wander onto better things like her friends, Ponyville, or even what she'd eat for breakfast. The thought of the conversation was completely forgotten behind her wall of memories and thoughts. With pleasent thoughts running through her head instead, Scootaloo fell asleep.