//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Not Being Alone // Story: The Ghost of Chicken Scootaloo // by Betty_Starlight //------------------------------// Rainy looks at the clear pegasus in the chicken costume to her right with a wide-eyed frown, “Huh? What?” Scootaloo looks left at the yellow earth mare, “I was just saying, we’re back at your house!” Suddenly, the blue front door of the two-story tan farmhouse opens, and a blue unicorn comes running out to greet the pair from 20 feet away. As she trots to them, she smiles and shouts, “Hiya Rainy! They were telling me about you, but uh, “she widens her eyes to the ghostly pegasus on her left as she abruptly stops trotting, “This ghost is unnatural! It is tainted! It is foul!” Scootaloo does her best to suppress a chuckle and smile as she stares back at the hairy blue fluffball unicorn and says, “I found Rainy! Yellow earth mare with red mane done like the other three sisters, right?” Izzy widens her eyes and frowns at the other pony as she says anxiously, “Uh, Scoots! Rainy is tan, with a blond mane and tail! I don’t know who this pony is?” The yellow pony stares back at Izzy with her own wide dark blue eyes, “Really? Because I was pretty sure I was Rainy? I mean, that’s what they told me my whole life!” Scootaloo glances back to the yellow pony before staring at the snickering blue unicorn with an annoyed grimace, “Izzy, knock it off!” Izzy widens her eyes as she exclaims with a grin, “Almost! We’ll get em next time!” she stares at Rainy, “And Rainy! Next time, please try to go along with the joke!” Rainy nods back, “Right!” she widens her dark blue eyes, “Wait, what?” Izzy then adjusts her gaze to both ponies as her red eyes widen once more, “Well, are we ready to get the party started? Scootaloo Chan? Rainy Sama?” <*****> Stormy stares back at the yellow mare with her green eyes and slams her pink right forehoof to the floor, “And I was trying to tell you that at the time, we could not spare the time, resources, or ponypower necessary to build a barn!” Rainy sighs as she stares back at the other pony in the living room, as Izzy and Sunny, watch from the couch on Rainy’s left, with Sunny closer to the door behind Rainy while an ethereal chicken-pegasus watches from the other side. “We could’ve at least had a framework, you know. Maybe even a roof?” she lowers her gaze, “I’m saying, we should’ve done something!” Stormy widens her eyes, “Like what? We’re already stretched thin as it is! There’s simply too much for the four of us, now!” A green earth mare named Snow looks over at Stormy from the left, and timidly says something nopony really hears… Rainy scrunches her brow in determination as she stares back to the pink earth mare, “Think about things, carefully now, Stormy! If we had built the barn back when I said we should, we wouldn’t have to worry so much about our crops rotting and spoiling in the fields, now would we?” Izzy eyes the pink mare carefully with her red eyes while whispering to herself, “Is she gonna crack? Will the pink mare admit her mistake?” Stormy sighs and shakes her head as her violet ponytail sways back around her neck, “You just don’t get it!” The blue mare named Cloudy looks at Stormy from the right, opposite to Snow and speaks up, “Well, friendship is back? Why not ask the town to help or maybe even our family down south?” Stormy turns her head Cloudy’s way, “What?” Cloudy sighs as her white ponytail bobs on her back, “Ponies will help us if we ask now! Look!” she points her right forehoof at the smiling blue unicorn and the orange alicorn just beyond her, sitting on the blue couch to their right, “They helped us when you asked! You saw! They’ve been nailing boards together for the lower framework all morning! Don’t you think you’re being kinda stubborn here?” before lowering her hoof. Izzy tightens her body and widens her eyes at Stormy and whispers, “Will she accept it?” Stormy closes her eyes and shakes her head, “Our family down south are all elderly ponies! They couldn’t help us if they wanted to!” Cloudy shakes it off and widens her eyes to the pink mare, “Regardless, what about the village? Surely, somepony there can lend a hoof?” Stormy smirks slightly as she giggles softly, “Yeah, and in the meantime, while one of you is away asking for help, I’m short-hoofed, here on the farm!” Rainy leans towards the pink mare aggressively, “Which is exactly why we should’ve done this, sooner!” At this point, Stormy can only give an exasperated scream at the heavens as everypony else in the room flinches! She adjusts her face to be level with the ground, “You ponies have no idea what it’s like to be solely responsible for the farm!” Rainy widens her eyes, “Well, not exactly, no? But, if you just listened to us and took what we had to say into consideration, instead of doing your own thing and running it how you and you alone would do it, it might not be so bad?” Stormy lifts the right side of her mouth in a half-smirk, “Right! And while one of you is galivanting around Maretime Bay, asking for help, work continues to pile up, back here!” she widens her green eyes, “GREAT PLAN!” Rainy’s mouth tightens, “Oh, so your idea of do nothing and hope this all goes away is any better?” At this point, something snaps inside the green pony on Stormy’s left as Snow looks over to address both combatants, “NOW LOOK! If Rainy manages to get more than one pony to help on the farm, then asking for help is totally worth it! And look!” she points her left forehoof to the smiling unicorn and confused alicorn on the couch, “We already did that! There’s two of them! It’s totally feasible and it can be done!” She lowers her hoof and faces her body to Stormy to trot 2 feet and stares at her solemnly with her violet eyes as she frowns, “We’re here to help you, okay? You’re not alone…” Izzy excitedly stares on from the couch while jittering lightly and whispering, “They did it! She’s cracking!” Stormy sighs and stares back into the purple eyes of her sister, “It’s uh… It’s really hard to run all of this…” Snow nods, “I know! And that’s why we’re here for you!” she smiles softly, “We’re sisters, remember?” Stormy frowns and says, “Well, I KNOW THAT! But um…” Snow stops smiling and lowers her gaze somewhat, “But nothing, Stormy! We’re sisters and we need to talk to Rainy now…” “Um, yeah about that!” Rainy stammers out with her head raised and blue eyes wide to the pink mare. Stormy adjusts her body rightward to face Rainy once more. “Ahem!” Rainy clears her throat, “I uh, whoa!” her eyes widen before narrowing back to the other mare. “Ugh!” she sighs, before staring directly into Stormy’s eyes, “I’m sorry, okay?” Stormy blinks and frowns, “What?” The yellow pony sighs wistfully off to her left before staring back to the pink mare, “I’m sorry I left you girls to do all of my work and I’m sorry I abandoned you…” she stares back at Stormy and blinks, “Is what I wanted to say…” Scootaloo smiles with her neck turned to the yellow pony while all Stormy can do is widen her eyes at what she just heard. Stormy blinks and says, “Y-yeah! Okay!” Snow looks at Stormy and whispers, “Don’t you have something to say to her?” Stormy turns her head left and gazes briefly at the green pony in her periphery before looking back at Rainy, “Um, yeah! Ahem!” she clears her throat and widens her eyes, “Yeah! I uh, look!” she pauses for a moment and breathes in and out through her nose. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, okay?” Rainy raises her neck and rolls her eyes, “Oh sure! Now that you know I’m right!” Scootaloo’s purple eyes widen at the yellow mare, and she raises her right forehoof to say something, when Stormy suddenly says, “Look! I-I’m sorry we didn’t listen to you, but I’m not sure what else we can do?” before Scootaloo lowers her hoof again… Cloudy says from the left, “Well, we could ask the ponies of Maretime Bay for help? You know, since friendship is back?” Stormy turns her head slightly to gaze at the blue mare in the corner of her left eye, “YES! We should ask for help! We DEFINITELY need to do that!” Rainy smiles and giggles as she shakes her head before trotting a few paces to look directly into her sister’s eyes, “So, no more running the farm with an iron-hoof, okay?” Cloudy speaks up from the left again, “We’re here to help you!” Snow speaks up, “You’re not alone sister!” Stormy blurts out, “I uh…” she closes her eyes… “Stormy?” Rainy inquires as her neck leans forward slightly and she gazes on with wide eyes… Stormy opens her green eyes to the yellow mare, “Shut up! I know you’re right now, and I’m trying to come up with a witty response! Uh,” she blinks, “give me a minute!” Rainy smiles wider and trots another pace with her right foreleg before embracing Stormy in a tight warm hug! Izzy happily bounces up and down on the couch as her blue mane vibrates, “YAY! The Weather Mares made up!” and she normalizes her eyes and glances to the left side, “Now, they can make their hit song, It’s Raining Stallions!” <*****> Rainy looks intently at Izzy, Sunny, and Scootaloo from the right of the front door. “So uh, you got enough yams?” Sunny can only mutter to herself, “I am NEVER going to run out of yams, EVER in the history of anything, now!” Izzy smiles and nods from Sunny’s right, “Oh yeah! I’m sure I can think of lots of neat and yummy ways to cook these!” Scootaloo looks over from Izzy’s right, “Sorry I can’t help you carry them girls, but I’m kinda dead and incorporeal!” Izzy leans to Scootaloo, “No problem, Scoots! But since you were gone, I gotta catch up now and make fun of you some more!” Scootaloo widens her eyes, “What?” Izzy also widens her eyes, “What?” Sunny glances at the two other ponies and tries to suppress a smirk before looking back at Rainy, “Uh, so I guess this is goodbye then?” Rainy smiles, “For now! But hey! Don’t be a stranger! I mean, we’re still out here and winter does get really boring on a farm!” Sunny smiles, “I’ll uh, keep that in mind!” <*****> Izzy huddles in her purple sleeping bag on the left side of the blue tent as she looks over to Sunny, in her own dark green bag on the right as she says, “Don’t pegasi have electric lanterns?” Sunny glances over, “I think so? So uh, do you think today went well?” Izzy frowns, “I think so? You like the yam casserole I made?” Sunny blinks, “Oh yeah! It was tasty! But uh, how the hay did you make a casserole on a campfire, anyway?” Izzy smiles, “MAGIC!” Sunny widens her eyes, “I guess? Uh, you think Scootaloo will be alright without us around while we’re asleep?” Izzy lowers her grin, “I don’t see why not? She’s been by herself for thousands of years at this point. Are the few hours we’re gonna sleep, really gonna matter?” Sunny sighs, “True, but I just can’t help but feel sorry for the poor pegasus! Uh, let’s not sleep any longer than we have to, okay?” Izzy smiles wider and nods, “Deal!” Izzy emerges from the cave to a wide-open field, where she sees Scootaloo, still in her chicken costume laughing with glee as her body faces to the right! Izzy trots down to Scootaloo, a mere 20 feet from her as she shouts, “Scootaloo! What are you doing?” Scootaloo stares at Izzy with crazy violet eyes as she turns her body to her and says, “I am the Chicken Princess!” as thousands of chickens suddenly appear flying from the wide-open plains behind her and soon, blacken the sky with their presence as the pegasus giggles maniacally! The constant sound of buck buck buck permeates the air as Izzy can only stare on in wide-eyed amazement! <*****> Izzy opens her red eyes with a start as her head rests on the left on top of her small purple camp pillow before she whispers, “Whoa! I gotta put that one in my dream journal!” She moves her body to lay on her back so she can glance right and notices that Sunny is no longer there. She also can’t help but smell the robust scent of percolating camp coffee as it’s meshed with the sweet aromatic scent of frying sweet potatoes. Izzy emerges from the blue tent to see a see-thru pegasus on the left of the campfire, standing there as she gazes at Sunny, currently frying yams in her small camp skillet over the small temporary fire pit they had erected the night before. She gazes over the vast expanse of grassy fields and then, over to the dirt road on their left before trotting the remaining few feet and plopping herself to her haunches in front of the first. Izzy yawns while Sunny magically fetches a cup of black coffee with the blue steel mug from the side and floats it in her direction in a golden glow. Izzy looks up at the cup and a blue glow soon encapsulates the mug before Sunny releases her magic, causing the gold to go away and Izzy floats the cup down to the ground before her as she looks up at the fire in the chilly morning air. Scootaloo turns her head to address both ponies, “So uh, you two rest well?” Izzy smiles, “Yeah, not too bad! You were okay without us, right?” she says before lowering her smirk and turning her red eyes to the pegasus. Scootaloo smiles dimly, “Of course! I mean, I spent quite a bit of time by myself earlier! A few hours won’t hurt me by this point!” Izzy blinks, “Well that’s good! We were worried about that!” Scootaloo raises her gaze, “Wait! You were worried about me?” Izzy nods, “Of course! We’re your friends!” Scootaloo exhales from her nose, “Wow… Uh, hey girls?” Izzy widens her eyes while the alicorn looks at the pegasus and says, “Yeah, Scootaloo?” Scootaloo swallows deeply, “I think I need to tell you something…” Izzy blinks, “What’s up?” Sunny raises her gaze, “Yes Scootaloo?” (To be continued…)