Breakfast, Books and Baring her Soul
By Dracarion
Carver awoke to the sound of teeth clacking quietly together. He lay still for a short time, gathering his wits. Not home… was the first thought to cross his mind as he noticed the fancy wallpaper. His orange rival turned friend came into view as he looked around, her left wing extended and her face buried in its feathers. “Morning.” He said as he stretched to work out a few kinks.
Scootaloo popped her head up and her wing closed. “Hey,” she said, blushing slightly, “good morning.”
“What time is it?” He asked, remembering his watch was on the dresser with his knife and keys.
Scootaloo looked at the clock in the room. “Around ten.”
“That early? Wow…” His nose picked up an alluring smell coming from somewhere else. “Is that… breakfast?”
“Yeah, Rares probably started it not too long ago, it should be done by now.” She said as she got up and looked over at the few things Carver had laid out on the dresser earlier that morning. “Nice knife.”
“You mean Leen?” He asked, receiving a nod in return. He picked the knife up lovingly in his magical field. “I’ve had her at my side for fifteen years now.”
“Leen? You call your knife Leen?” She asked as if she knew there had to be some reason behind it. “Why?”
“It’s her name. Well, it’s the acronym for her name; her real name is Lacrimas ex Equa Noctis. A fitting name, don’t you think, sister?”
Her eyes followed the dark, twisting blade from its point to its crescent moon hilt and carved rosewood handle. “The Nightmare’s Tear. It does… wait, how did you know?”
“Truthfully? You just confirmed it yourself by translating my blade’s name so quickly. Though, I’d had suspicions when you answered me nearly a month ago.” He said, sheathing the dagger in his coat. “Very few ponies know our ancient language, or at least how to pronounce it properly.” He grinned as the smell of pancakes entered his nostrils. “But enough about religion, it smells like foods ready.”
“This isn’t over.” She said as they walked out of the room.
“I wouldn’t expect it to be.” He said, as he followed. The two walked towards the stairs in silence until Scootaloo noticed Carver watching her flank.
“Hey.” She said, flicking his nose with the tip of her tail. “You had your chance last night, and you passed on it.” She started down the stairs, Carver stepping up next to her.
“Sorry, but I’m hopelessly loyal to one mare….” He said, but then gave a laughing snort. “Well… two, but that’s beside the point.”
“What, a wife and a marefriend?” Scootaloo teased, gently nudging Carver.
“Well,” he said as they entered the dining room, “one’s more like a good friend and the other’s good time. But the good friend and the good time are about to get married, so I can’t cross either one.” He turned to face her. “Ya’ know, as much as I hate you for what you did to me, I can’t get over how… similar we are.” He turned to face their hostess and gave a polite nod. “Good morning.” He headed over to the table and took a seat. “Thank you for letting us stay here last night.”
Rarity lowered her paper. “Don’t worry about it dear.” She folded her newspaper as she motioned to the table. “I’ll admit, this isn’t anything special, but should be enjoyable.”
He looked at the food before him, eggs, toast, and juice, a simple breakfast. “Thank you, but you really didn’t have to do this.”
“But of course I did, darling.” She said. “I mean, how else are we supposed to talk before you leave?”
Carver paused for a second before flicking out his napkin and answering her. “Of course. A little friendly conversation is a great way to start a day.” His dark eyes flicked up from looking at the food in front of him. “As long as it stays friendly.” He shifted his entire posture to be friendly. “So,” he lifted a fork and broke his eggs, “what do we want to talk about?”
Rarity’s eyes had been flitting over Carver’s black coat. Without sleep fogging her vision, she was able to pick out the fine lines that defined scales, the subtle folds of pockets, and the long line of Leen. But with each pass, her eyes flicked back to the scales. “I must ask, darling, as to where you got a coat that’s so… unique!” She got up and walked around to where Carver was sitting. “I must say, I’ve NEVER seen ANYTHING as unusual at this. May I?” She asked, extending a hoof towards the article in question.
Carver took a sip of juice, watching Rarity from the corner of his eye. He let out a sigh before answering, knowing that look on a mare’s face. “Go ahead.”
Rarity closed her eyes as she shifted her hoof closer, Scootaloo sat on the other side of the table waving her hooves back and forth in front of her, shaking her head vehemently side to side, silently hoping that Rarity wouldn’t realize what the captivating material was. Carver flashed the orange are a smirk as the white hoof connected with the scaled garment. “It feels so…” She started, as she slid her hoof down the sleeve, when suddenly the image of a small purple friend came to mine. At once, she knew exactly what it was, and she violently recoiled from Carver. “It can’t be! You! YOU!” Scootaloo covered her face with a hoof.
“I did warn you.” Carver said as the white mare stepped forward, her face twisting into a rage.
“MONSTER!!” Rarity spat, spinning Carver around to face her. “How could you!! How DARE you bring this… this... this… ABOMONATION... into my home!!!” She glared at him, mildly calming. “Actually, the only redeeming factor you have is that you most likely didn’t ‘harvest’ it yourself, as it were.” She growled. Scootaloo peered over her hoof.
“Well, if one wants a material this rare…” Carver started, lifting another bite from the plate. Scootaloo slammed her hoof back over her face.
“You! YOU!!” Rarity spat before an orange glow lit the dining room.
“Huh.” Carver said, turning to Scootaloo. “And here I thought the whole ‘burning unicorn’ thing was just a myth.”
Scootaloo merely muttered a ‘Nightmare why?’ from behind her own hoof.
-- -- - -- --
“Well,” Carver started as he swiped egg from his mane, “she was fun.”
“Shut up.” A very insulted Scootaloo shot back.
“What?” He asked, trying for innocent.
“Shut. Up.” Scootaloo said, as they walked out the front door. She flipped out a set of pegashades. “Just tell me what provoked you had to do that.”
“It’s simple, sister. She was being too nice.”
“Come again?”
Carver sighed. “I’ve learned that anypony that’s that generous is always looking to get something in return.” He stopped walking. “And as generous as she was being, I was just getting a really bad feeling. Though I have to admit, I didn’t expect her to be so… strong.”
Scootaloo opened her car door. “Let’s take a ride and I’ll tell you the story of six friends divided.” Carver got in, and the pair headed off towards the library.
“You were bold and strong and strong and ready to begin your life. All for nothing you were sacrificed.” The song started near the end. Scootaloo reached over and poked off the stereo.
“The ten-thousand hooves album.” Carver said after Scoots turned off the stereo. “Nice.”
Scootaloo nodded in agreement with the monochromatic stallion before starting. “Alright, the story starts with the Elements of Harmony. I’ll assume you know what those are.”
“Of course I do, there’s six of them.” Carver looked out at Canterlot passing by as he listed off the Elements. “Devotion, Truth, Selflessness, Compassion, Joy, and um… I think the last one was magic or something like that.”
“Wait, where did you get your list of elements?”
“Legend of the Nightmare, Second edition.” He said, turning back from looking out the window.
“Ah.” Scootaloo said, knowing that she could skip right to the main part. “So, twenty years ago, when The Nightmare returned, six ponies stumbled into wielding them against her.”
“Yeah, I remember something about that morning there was a terror in Ponyville.” He said, his eyes scanning the dash. This drive was going to take a lot longer than last night. “Although, truthfully, I was only five at the time.”
“Well, I was there, front and center, for her return. And let me tell you, it scared me. um…. That’s beside the point. The point is, across a matter of hours the six became the closest friends. AJ with her honesty, Dash with her loyalty, Rarity with her generosity, Twilight with her magic, Pinkie with her laughter, and Fluttershy, oh dear Fluttershy, she is one of the kindest ponies one could ever meet. But fifteen year ago, well, things…. changed…… because of me.” Scootaloo got ready to launch into the story of her past. “Fluttershy is serving one of the harshest sentences anypony could be granted.” She pulled off the road and parked. “And it’s all because of me.”
Scootaloo took a deep shuddering breath before sighing. “Fifteen years ago, the four of us, me, Bloom, Sweetie, and Dinks, all lived in Ponyville, and we all four were ‘blank flanks’. Down its west side, Ponyville was bordered by the Everfree Forest, which was home to everything from ursas to hydras and cockatrice. And as fillies, we played in the forest, tempting fate, whenever we could.
“Then one day, it caught up with us.” She shrugged off her jacket, revealing four long scars down her back, any of which could have killed or crippled her. “I still don’t know what we ran into that day. It was fast, unbelievably fast, and strong. Me and Bloom held it off the other crusaders for some time, but eventually…” She pulled the jacket back up as she brought her hooves to her eyes. “Sorry, I’m…” She started rubbing her eyes, her shades pushed up to her forehead. It was then that she felt the last thing she ever expected to feel, a hoof on her shoulder, his hoof on her shoulder.
“Take your time.” Carver said, remembering his own having to tell harsh stories of the past.
Scootaloo finally caught another breath and resumed her story, but skipped right to the point of interest. “So,” she said then sighed, “Fluttershy was supposed to be watching us when this happened, but we’d snuck out on her. If it hadn’t been for Dinkie, we would have been goners. And in all truthfulness, I don’t think Shy’s punishment would have been so bad if news hadn’t spread like wildfire. Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Manehatten, Chargecago, hell even Filly went into an uproar over how this pegasus nearly let four fillies die on her watch.” She let out a small snort. “Nightmane even took her case, and when all was said and done, he’d talked Celestia into a far lighter sentence.” She turned to look at him. “Fluttershy ended up with a sentence of fifteen years imprisonment.” Scootaloo let out another sigh. “A little over a year later, when Nightmane left Ponyville, he took Pinkie and their foal Duskmane with him.”
“Hold up, you’re telling me that the infamous Senator Nightmane lived in Ponyville?”
“He moved there in five, and left in seven when he restarted his political career.” Scootaloo said, quickly answering Carver’s question. “So, Fluttershy imprisoned, Pinkie moved, that leaves four. Now, before he’d left, Nightmane made the off-hoof statement to Applejack as to why the Apples couldn’t all work together, and that lead to the rise of Sweet Apple Inc.”
“So, an Element runs the Sweet Apple Empire?” Carver said, a hoof rubbing his chin. “Interesting.”
“Well…” She looked at her captive audience. “Ya’ know, I’m not even sure why I’m telling you any of this.”
There was a moment of silence in which the only sound was that of the engine thrumming away under the hood. “I think…” Carver started, the pieces starting to come together in his mind. “I think that, well, we’ve been through similar shit in our lives. And… Alright, I got nothing. I insulted your friend with two sentences, I had every opportunity to torture and kill you and haven’t, not to mention how our last meeting went rather poorly.” He looked out the window as he thought about it more. “But I really would like to know how this story ends. So, would you please finish it?”
“Ok, fine. But you owe me for this.” She turned off the engine that had been happily growling away while they’d been talking. “So, the four remained in Ponyville until First Strike.” She paused, remembering the chaos and panic. She remembered the smell most of all, such horrid scents as the most precious things in her life were taken away. “With our town in ruins, most ponies moved on. And sadly, there was soon too few ponies to allow for reconstruction, so they moved. Rarity, came here and reopened her boutique, Carousel Boutique, but still gave most her profits to a charity to help the refugees of the attack. Twilight, whom you are about to meet, also moved here, and was given the position of Head Royal Librarian. Dash went to Hoofington to become a Wonderbolt and Applejack wound up in Manehatten.”
“That’s it?” Carver asked, after they’d sat in silence for a moment.
“Pretty much. Applejack, Rarity and Ditzy were all called to Canterlot to be assigned for the war, and I was orphaned during the attack.” Carver saw the tears form and be fought, these were obviously memories she rarely shared. “The four of us were sent to Summer’s Ville, which incidentally is where you’re living now, to be in a safe area during the war.” She laughed. “Two years later, I discovered that the feather heads were kinder than the ponies we met there.” She looked at the clock. “But that’s a story for another day.” She started the engine back up. “Now,” she said, as she put the car into gear, “I’ve bared my soul, it’s your turn. Who was this Wings guy?”
“Wings?” Carver asked, looking at Scootaloo. He sighed before continuing. “How did you…? Actually, it really doesn’t matter. We’d met during the second year of the war….” Carver told his story as they drove towards the library.
- -- --- --- -
The Royal Canterlottian Library was massive. It had to be, as it contained every book, magazine and newspaper ever printed, as well as every film made. It was also the only place one could find books on the four ‘forbidden’ magics: biomancy, necromancy, celestamancy, and chronomancy. And it was somewhere inside this colossal structure that the two ponies who just pulled up in a black sports car were hoping to find some answers to exactly what Dawn was doing in Clouds Fall.
The two ponies entered the massive building, Carver marveling over the architecture while Scootaloo was still stunned by the cruelty that she’d heard of the griffons committing, and how it had paled to the rage Carver had fallen to. In fact, she was so wrapped in her own thoughts that she failed to notice the mare speaking to her until Carver gave her a gentle nudge. “Huh? Whadja say?”
“I asked if there was some way in which I could help you and your… coltfriend?” The mare said in a hushed voice as her green eyes scanned Carver.
“Actually,” Scootaloo said, knowing the pony she needed to talk to was here, “we’re looking for Librarian Twilight Sparkle. Could you point us towards her?”
“Oh, of course, she’s over in advanced magic.” The mare motioned a hoof casually in a leftish direction. “Go that way, and follow the signs.”
The pair thanked the mare and headed off in the direction they were pointed. They walked for what seemed like an hour in silence when suddenly the silence was broken by a crash of books.
“But WHY can’t I go mom? All the boys from my class will be there!” The pair rounded the corner to see a small blue pegasus stamping his tiny hooves.
“URR… Starsmoke! One more word about that party and I’ll….” Smoke literally radiated off the lavender mare as she scolded the foal at her hooves. Her sparkling horn explained why neither pony heard her until now. “I’ll ground you for a month!”
“That’s harsh, Twi.” Scootaloo said as they rounded the corner. “Then again, my mom only ever spanked me.” She reached down and ruffled the little colt’s mane. “Hey squirt.”
“Scootaloo!” He said, shoving the hoof off his head. “Not now!”
“Ok, fine.” Scootaloo put on a fake pout before turning her attention to Twilight. “Hey, Twi, can we speak to you for a minute?” She cast a subtle glance at Starsmoke. “Without him over hearing?”
“Um, ohh kay.” Twilight turned to Starsmoke. “Star, go wait for me in my office, please. I have some big pony business to discuss with Scootaloo and her friend.”
“But Mom…” The colt started.
“One. More. Word.” She said, lowering her head to her foal’s face.
“Going, going.” He said, as he stood to his full height, wings stretched up and trotted purposely and defiantly away, acting as if he didn’t even want to be there. However, once he was out of sight, he stepped back behind a book case to where he could still hear his mother talking to the other two ponies.
“So,” Twilight took a moment, checking to see if Starsmoke had come back around the other side, “what brings you all the way to Canterlot, besides your normal ritual of visiting, well... her?” Her voice became melancholy.
Scootaloo's face betrayed a twinge of regret. “Actually, I was visiting Flut... visiting her, when I got a call from Dawn, and, well, I was wondering if you could tell me anything about what she was studying.”
A look of concern flicked across Twilight’s face. “She pulled it off, didn’t she?” She then let out a exasperated sigh. “I have to say, she’s the only mare I know who’s far enough out of her bucking mind to actually attempt magic on that level.”
“And exactly what was she trying to do?” Carver asked, knowing that biomancy isn’t something to trot blindly into.
"And you are?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, this is Carver." Scoots said, throwing a hoof around his neck in mock affection. “He’s gonna help me fix whatever it is that Dawn’s done.”
"Alright." Twilight said with a sigh. "I was given Dawn as a student when she first started school for gifted unicorns. She showed remarkable potential in her first years, but kept trying to delve into more frowned upon magics.”
“So, she was like you?” Scootaloo interrupted, before her look fell to confusion. “But you were in Ponyville back when Dawn was a filly. How could you have taught her in the same school you went to?”
“It’s simple.” Twilight said, waiting as if though the answer was obvious. After a moment of confused looks, she sighed. “I went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns where as Dawn went to Luna’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” Another moment of confused looks. “Okay, so imagine that Celestia’s school is more like the school at Ponyville, giving a basic general education while focusing on magic, alright?” Her audience nodded. “Well, Luna’s school is for unicorns who already have the basic schooling, but want to further their magic, kinda like a college exclusively for magic.” A look of understanding crossed the faces of the two ponies that stood before her as she finished her explanation. “So, since I have experience with higher difficulty magic, they had me teaching in Luna’s school, which is where I met Dawn…” She brought a hoof to her chin. “I think I already said that… Oh well. But it wasn’t just her potential that worried me, it was her class list. Advanced Biology, Advanced Psychology, Advanced Anatomy, the list just goes on, all giving her a complete look at how a pony functions. She then became obsessed with a project of hers.
“She began delving into archaic rituals and spells, claiming she could prove herself right if only she could find the right combination of magics.” Twilight shook her head, before answering an unasked question. “Her claims of creating another perfect being were just too far beyond her grasp for the longest, but then a year ago, that changed.”
“What happened a year ago?” Scootaloo asked, knowing she was missing some detail.
“Well, last year she stopped looking into magic, stopped coming to class, and had seemingly disappeared. I found her a few weeks later, camped out in the records room. Then last week she said something about having to go home to deal with a family issue, but...” Twilight was interrupted by an outburst from Scootaloo.
“Not possible.” She said, shaking her head. “Dawn lost her father in the first year of the war, and she didn’t have any have any family beyond that.”
“That might explain something then. Follow me.” Twilight turned and started further into the library, her silencing zone following her. “She was looking at a number of ponies, but I couldn't draw any links beyond simple locations as to what the ponies had to do with each other. But after weeks of searching, she had her ‘family thing’ come up, but wasn’t very tidy about her work. She left out five files when she left, and I have no real idea what the five ponies in question have in common.” She opened the door to the room. “But I’ve got the feeling that we have the answer to the quandary standing right here.”
“I’m not sure I follow…” Carver said, tilting his head in confusion.
“Here.” Twilight motioned to the table. “Take a look and see what you can tell me.”
Carver stepped up to the small oblong table in the center of the room, his face going a lighter shade of grey than it naturally was. There they were, all five of them, though by name he only recognized two. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and attempted to recover from his shock. “Me.” He said after a quiet moment. Both mares quickly focused on him. “I’m what they all have in common.” He laid a hoof on each file in turn. First was a pegasus named Blizzard Sky, with a white mane with blue fur, “Wings, the closest I’ve had to a brother,” then a unicorn named Sparkly Shine, who had a gorgeous face, “Eyes, named for her most alluring feature,” the next one was a yellow earth pony that Twilight herself had met, the folder read Braeburn Apple, “Rope, who couldn’t take a life even when his had depended on it” the following earth pony’s green fur and golden eyes snagged his attention, Dustrunner, “Dusty, who recently disappeared,” and finally was Carver Fel, a grey unicorn with a black mane with two red streaks in it, “Knife,” he looked at Twilight, all four hooves on the ground again, “who stands before you now. I take it you’ve looked at the files?” He flipped through his file with his magic. A surprising amount of it was covered by black marker. “It’s amazing how much of my life has been removed.” He muttered.
“Well, I tried, but these are only copies, and the text is completely obscured behind the redaction.” Twilight said, as Carver lifted a quill in the center of the table. “What are you… Hay! You can’t do that!”
“It’s incomplete.” He simply stated, as he returned the quill to its pot. Just under the name Blizzard Sky, next to the line ‘Born: June 12, 978’, Carver had written ‘Died: July 15, 1014’. He muttered a barely audible ‘Nightmare guide you’ before closing the file.
“What happened to him?” Twilight asked, after noting what had been added.
“Griffons.” Carver spat, as if somepony had just jammed their hoof into an open wound. “We left him behind, in a shallow, unmarked grave.”
“Wow.” Twilight was taken aback by the sheer hatred that radiated off the pony before her. She put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him. “I had no idea.”
He let out a snort and shoved the file across the table from the other four. “To the business at hoof, we know that it has to be somepony who she’d want to target as her test subject.” His eyes fell on Dustrunner’s file. “Scoots, you don't think...?” He asked, shifting the file to her with his magic.
“What?” She leafed through it. “I'm not sure what you're showin' me with so much of it redacted…. Here we go. Something about working for some sort of 'security firm' during the war….” She flipped through the other files quickly, finding the same ‘firm’ mentioned in each. However, that wasn’t the only thing that matched up across the papers that summed up the lives of four ponies. “No way you all worked for Feather Tech." Scoots pointed at the page, her voice dripped with disdain.
“What’s wrong with Feather Tech?” Twilight asked, wondering what could make one of the largest companies in Equestria so bad.
“You’re cute when you’re naïve.” Scootaloo said, shaking her head slightly. “Feather Tech is the real power in Equestria. I mean, Celestia may rule Equestria politically, but Feather Tech rules the entirety of the ponydom economically. They are also the only company in Equestria who’s severance package actually includes severing parts from their owner.”
"Also, most of their business wasn't exactly on the level. When it says we worked security, it means that we made sure that if a pony couldn't be bought, that they were permanently out of the way." Carver said, flicking a hoof across his throat at permanently.
Scoots turned back to Carver. “But I'm not sure what most of this would have to do with Dawn. Unless….” She flipped through Dustrunner’s file one more time. “Dawn told me that her father had told her to not just do something right, but to do it smart, that power and strength were worthless without brains behind it. But look at the list of ponies that would have wanted Dustrunner. Feather Tech, Marrl, Equestrian Royal Guard, Equestrian Investigations Bureau, several NLR agencies, and with all that, the ERS snagged him.”
“What?” Carver looked at the file. “Wow…. I didn’t think that would happen. Arrested March of 1020 for due taxes unpaid for employment between 1010 and 1015. Huh.” He looked at Twilight. “Any idea of the spells she’d use to accomplish this… perfect being?”
“Well…” She thought for a moment, tapping her chin with a hoof. “I’m not sure of any spells that would accomplish what she was going for, but there are some rituals…” The hoof she was tapping against her chin rose to cover her face. “Why didn’t I think of that! I swear I can be so blind sometimes.” Twilight turned and started to leave, the other two ponies stood unsure what to do.
“What aren’t you telling us, Twi?” Scootaloo asked, her whole stance said that she was tired of being in the dark.
“Dawn had trouble with even simple spells, but when it came to ritual casting, well, she made my magnificent magical mastery look like little more than foal’s play.” Twilight laughed nervously. “However, since casting a ritual requires texts to cast from, there’s one place that might be able to tell us which books she has.” Twilight opened the door. Nopony saw the skittering blue hooves retreating to cover. “And that place is the front desk.” Twilight turned and headed from the records room, silently leading the way to the front desk where the mare that greeted them was waiting. “April, could you pull up the checkout logs for Miss Dawn Hope?”
“Of course, Miss Sparkle.” April said, and with a practiced speed that few non-unicorn ponies have, brought the records up on the computer screen before her. “Um… miss Sparkle? We’ve got some red flags here.”
“What?” Twilight suddenly popped around the counter, shoving April out of her way, and glared at the screen. “She’s got half the biomancy section checked out!”
Carver stepped up to the computer. “If I may?” Twilight nodded a go-ahead and stepped aside. “Now then,” he started typing with his magic, “let’s cross-reference this book list with the Feather Tech online spell list. He watched as the information danced before his eyes. “Wow, this is a very scattered list of rituals… Restraining, bioconstruction, mental separation, mental alteration and growth spells? What the buck was she bucking with?”
“Oh Celestia.” Twilight gasped. “She’s not going to just build a new pony." She gulped loudly. "She’s rebuilding an existing pony.”
“Actually, that would be the ideal way to do it.” Carver deadpanned.
“Nightmare’s mane, you ARE a monster.” Scootaloo muttered in his ear. Carver just grinned in return. She raised her voice to a hushed tone. “Well, now that we know what she’s doing, do we know how to stop or reverse it?”
“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, shaking her head, “but without knowing the exact rituals used we can’t know how to undo what’s been done or if it’s even possible.”
Scootaloo shifted to be laying on the floor. “I think I can get you that list.” She said as she pulled out her phone.
“Ok, if you can send me that, then I'll know if and how to break her spells.”
Carver checked his watch. “Um, Scoots, if we want to make Clouds Fall before sunset, we really should move. No disrespect, Miss Sparkle.”
“I don’t see why I’d be offended. You two obviously have places to go and ponies to see.” Twilight said, waving a hoof. “I’d appreciate it if you keep me informed though?”
“Sure.” Scootaloo said, as she stood up and pocketed her phone. "We’ll keep ya in the loop.” She turned to Carver. “Shall we?”
“Yeah, let’s hit the road. Good bye Miss Sparkle.”
“Good bye, Mr. Fel.” Twilight waved as the pair trotted towards the door.
The two ponies got back into the old black sports car. Carver looked over at Scootaloo, a question he’d been wanting to ask since they’d talked at Rarity’s. “If you don’t mind me asking, what was it that brought you to the Nightmare?”
“Ugh,” the orange mare ran a hoof down her face, “I knew this was coming.” She paused. “Well, it was right after First Strike, and my life was at a particularly low point…” She continued to talk as they drove back to Rarity’s to pick up Carver’s car.
- --- -- -
Clouds Fall, Equestria
An orange pony lay on his back. His wings were spread out across the floor, a small, intricate ring at the base of his horn, and his blue mane and tail fanned out on each end of him. He watched the scene through the bars before him with a mix of boredom and excitement.
To be continued....
/*A/N: Well, while this ends the current ep, don't worry, Carver and Scoots will be back to finish this storyline in the next episode: Remnant. Also, the song referenced is Guarded by Disturbed from their Ten Thousand Fists album.
And I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get this up, but they didn't want to co-operate with me. */