My Little DJ: Scootaloo's Melody

by iDash

Chapter 5: With Me Always, Hear My Song

A/N: In this chapter, ~ _ * _ * _ ~ also means a time transition within the memory.

“I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I’ve ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours.”
-Anonymous

Dimly lit and quiet was the room she sat in, the trace scent of dust filling that air. The orange mare sat in a simple chair in a corner of the room. Anxiety filled the air as well as the light dust that floated around. The faint room lied behind a large stage, curtain entrances placed on each side.

Outside, life buzzed all around as excitement clung to the air. Joyous music floated into the air, all of the sounds rising up and joining to create one symphony of ecstatic wonder.

This was the Equestrian Music Festival.

For two weeks she had been waiting for this, and for two weeks she had worked to her limits for this night.

Scootaloo did not join the excitement, however. Instead, she remained settled in the chair, lost deep in her thoughts. Her eyes were not focused on what was around her in the dim room, but on what rested in her hooves.

Lying in the softly gripping, orange surface was a single, delicate, pure white flower. Though, to her, it was much more than that. It had been her mother’s favorite, a gardenia, the same flower that had been laid atop her grave.

Scootaloo gently spun the flower around by its stem, watching as the delicate petals tilted to and fro. The flower was entrancing, drawing in anypony that gazed at its beauty.

“That’s a beautiful flower,” somepony said from the side, voicing Scootaloo’s thoughts. She turned her head to see Octavia walking towards her, the case containing her cello slung across her back. Her silky black mane was tied at the end with a pale purple bow. “It was Vinyl’s favorite, right?” she said as she stopped beside Scootaloo.

The orange mare nodded without a word and turned her gaze back to the flower, twirling it between her hooves. The flower was fully blossomed. She’d found it while walking through one of the gardens around the festival.

Without thought, Scootaloo began to hum as she stared at the gorgeous object. Octavia tilted her head as she recognized the melody.

“That’s the lullaby that Vinyl sang to you, isn’t it?” Again, Scootaloo nodded, but said nothing.

It had been a while since the young mare had heard or sung the song. Though, the last time she did wasn’t something she particularly wanted to remember.

The last time, Vinyl had died.

Torrential winds blew, rain buffeted everything in sight, an orange and purple blur shot though the turbulent streets of Ponyville…

Scootaloo moved as fast as she could, her eyes squinting while she struggled to navigate through the flooding streets. She hurried, desperate to reach her destination as fast as she could.

Nopony with sense would’ve been out at that time. An unscheduled storm was fiercely blowing over the town. It had come out of the Everfree forest, and it was impossible for weather pegasi to control anything that came from the dreadful woodland.

The rumbling of thunder sounded in the distance, causing Scootaloo to cringe slightly, but she didn’t stop. She was almost to her destination. As she turned down another path and her hooves transitioned from dirt to cobblestone once more, she chanced to cast a look at the sky. Her violet globes of eyes widened in horror as she did so.

The funnel was already forming, clouds swirling around it as it slowly began to lower. Dust and blades of grass could be seen being forced into its vacuum and lifted into the air. Fear gripped Scootaloo and her pace slowed just a bit in her shock. Her gaze drifted down and followed the path of the funnel.

Her heart beat faster. It wasn’t far away at all, being in the same part of town she was. She turned around in panic and dashed forward as fast as she could. Her hooves carried her as fast as they could go, digging into the ground and driving her forward as the tornado finally touched the ground.

“Scootaloo!” Vinyl shouted her daughter’s name, but her voice was drowned out by the fierce winds.

The storm was getting progressively worse as she treaded through the seemingly empty town. Vinyl let out a groan of both frustration and worry: Worry for the orange mare that become lost in the turbulent storm, and frustration for the same mare, who had foalishly insisted on locking up and securing the night club, Club Symphonic.

“Scootaloo!” she yelled louder this time, but again, there was no response. Vinyl was now running through the rain, her head darting back and forth as she searched for Scootaloo. Just then, a loud roaring noise came from off to her left and she tilted her head in that direction. She stopped dead in her tracks with her mouth agape as the tornado twisted it way towards the ground.

Fear gripped her, threatening to hold her in her place, but fear also forced her to keep moving, not fear for herself, though, but fear for her daughter who was still lost in the treacherous storm.

Scootaloo continued to run. She was sprinting now, actually, with the heavy drops of rain hitting her like shards of ice falling from the sky. The cyclone was getting closer and closer, debris could be seen being flung from it. Thoughts about the night club were pushed to the back of her mind and she was now sprinting back to where she had come from.

The storm was becoming progressively more dangerous. The orange mare could almost feel the winds trying to pull her into the whirlwind and the rain pouring so hard, it seemed as if it were trying to drown her. She didn’t stop, however, and dashed, her head shooting back and forth in an attempt to find a path to her home in her state of panic.

Her ears suddenly perked up and she slowed down just a little. The mare could’ve sworn she’d just heard the voice of another pony. She strained her ears.

“Scootaloo.”

There it was again, and she could hear it clearly this time. Somepony was calling her name.

She stopped for a second and looked around for the-

“Aahhh!” Scootaloo shouted and jumped back. A large branch of a tree had come flying at her. It would’ve hit her had she not seen it out of the corner of her eye. Her initial shock wore off as she took in the situation. It was even more dangerous now; the tornado was close enough to hit her with debris. She began to run when she heard the voice once more.

“Scootaloo!”

Scootaloo’s ears perked up again. She knew this voice, even though she could barely make it out. It was…

“Mom!”

The mare came to a halt once again and began to look around frantically for the pony that was calling her name.

“Scoota-” CRASH!

Scootaloo turned with a start to look towards the cyclone, which had made its way over a building. From the area it was in, it was luckily an abandoned one.

“Scootaloo!” Scootaloo heard her name and noticed that the voice had said something else, but it was drowned out by the storm.

Vinyl turned another corner. The mare had been chasing the orange blur she had spotted not too long ago when she heard the deafening crash from the tornado. She sprinted to the next turn and searched for the orange pegasus again.

“Scootaloo! Where are you?!” she shouted into the roaring wind. Water dripped down her face and over her eyes from her electric blue mane, which was soaked and plastered to her body.

“Mom?!”

Vinyl’s head shot up and she turned in the direction her daughter’s voice had come from. She galloped as fast as she could, vicious winds snapping at her face, until she reached a wide street. She looked left. Nothing there. She looked right. And there she was, as she saw her through the heavy, furious rain. Standing with her back turned was Scootaloo, her soaking violet mane swept to one side.

Vinyl started forward, only to jump back when something large landed a little too close to her for comfort. She shifted her gaze to look at the object. It was a stone, no, a chunk of what seemed like rubble. She glanced around, wondering where it had come from. However, it didn’t take her very long to find the source.

The tornado, both breathtaking and horrifying at the same time, had apparently picked up rather large pieces of sediment and rubble and was tossing the debris out just as it had the relatively small chunk of stone beside her.

As she stared, her vision drifted down until it rested on a certain clump of orange and purple. Scootaloo.

Vinyl snapped out of the trance that she had unknowingly been caught in and remembered the reason why she was out there in the first place. Right now, Scootaloo was in danger, and Vinyl refused to let anything happen to her. She began to gallop again as she sped towards her daughter. The only thing taking priority was keeping her safe.

Scootaloo gazed in awe at the cyclone. While still far enough away so that it didn’t suck her into its vacuum, it remained frightening as it blew with its turbulent winds and flung whatever it happened to pick up at her.

She could not hear the voice of her mother calling her anymore, even though she strained her ears. Scootaloo continued to stare at the occurring natural disaster. As she began to turn, however, and continue on her way back home, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. A large piece of debris was circling around just outside the area of the cyclone. The thin, wooden beam, covered in large, crumbling stone, continued to rotate around as it drifted farther and farther away, until, finally, it was furiously thrown from the cyclone’s grasp.

It was heading straight for her.

Fear gripped Scootaloo and restricted her from moving. Her eyes widened and time seemed to slow down until it almost stopped. The chunk of the destroyed building came flying at her in slow motion. All of her attention was focused on the thing that seemed intent on taking her life as she blocked out the rest of the world.

Something snapped her out of that state. The one thing. Vinyl’s voice.

“SCOOTALOO!”

Something collided with her side with great force, pushing her far off to the side as she almost fell over. She turned her head to see what had happened and, in her astonishment, she looked just in time to watch as the chunk of wood and stone impacted Vinyl’s body.

Scootaloo’s eyes fluttered open and she closed them immediately afterwards as the light from the white room flooded her eyes. She lifted her head off of the soft, plush surface and sat up right in the chair she had fallen asleep in. Her eyes drifted around the white room. When she looked out the window, the sun was a little above the horizon, just beginning the morning.

She turned her head to the bed before her. A heart monitor beeped beside it, wires and tubes ran from all sorts of machines and connected to the mare that lay on top of the hospital bunk. She stared at the broken form of Vinyl’s body. She was covered in casts and bandages, all except the left side of her upper body, which now faced Scootaloo.

Three days ago, the two had been caught in a horrible storm. Vinyl had been hit by a large piece of rubble from the tornado. Another pony had seen them and helped Scootaloo pull Vinyl inside. One of the unicorns that were there sent an urgent letter to the hospital and, somehow avoiding the danger of the cyclone, a medical team arrived soon after. They treated her as well as possible and by the time the storm cleared, rushed her to the hospital for proper treatment.

Scootaloo hadn’t left Vinyl’s side since. None of the doctors or nurses was able to get her to leave, even after visiting hours. To her side on a small table was an empty bowl of what had once been soup. Everypony was kind enough to bring her food and blankets in her time there.

The entire time, she had sat there and cried over her mother’s broken body. Why? Why did it have to be her that ended up like this? It just wasn’t fair.

Scootaloo closed her eyes and set her head back down on the bed. She would stay there as long as she had to until Vinyl was back.

Silence overtook the room, aside from the constant beeping of the heart monitor.

Beep… beep… beep… was all that Scootaloo heard. Then, something broke the unpleasant silence. A voice, and a very familiar one.

“Mornin’, Scoot.” Scootaloo’s head darted up and she looked ahead. A pair of crimson red eyes stared back at her, a small smile on their owner’s face.

Scootaloo was speechless as she gazed in disbelief. A single word managed to escape her throat as she spoke in a raspy voice.

“Mom?...”

Vinyl smiled back. “The one and only,” she said weakly.

Without thinking, Scootaloo flung herself forward and wrapped her hooves around Vinyl, careful not to do so in a way that would cause her pain from her injuries. She couldn’t help herself and began to sob as she hugged Vinyl, the tears falling onto the unicorn’s fur.

“I-I’m so s-sorry,” she said through her cries. “It’s-it’s all my f-fault. I’m so s-sorry.”

Vinyl nuzzled Scootaloo as she hugged her back with her free hoof. “Shhh, don’t say that, it’s not your fault.”

The orange mare shook her head. “If it w-weren’t for m-me you wouldn’t be h-hurt like this,” Scootaloo continued to cry.

“No, no. It’s not your fault, Scootaloo, I promise,” Vinyl said in her weak voice. “Come on, you know I don’t like to see you cry like this.” Despite her words, Vinyl was having trouble keeping back her own tears.

Scootaloo eased a little on the crying, but didn’t stop. She couldn’t help herself as she slung to Vinyl. After a few moments, the older DJ spoke again, this time her voice was weaker than before.

“Hey, Scootaloo, do you remember that lullaby that I used to sing to you?” Still shedding tears, Scootaloo lifted her head up and looked into her mother’s eyes as she slowly nodded.

Vinyl smiled again. The mare drew a slow, deep breath, and she began to sing. Her voice flowed like silk, just as it always had, despite her faint voice. She sang slowly, yet gracefully.

“Red moon, red moon,
Why are you sighing?”

There was a pause as Scootaloo looked into Vinyl’s crimson eyes. Vinyl just smiled and nuzzled her daughter again. Scootaloo understood the silent gesture and wiped her tears away with a hoof as she began to sing. Her voice was a little shaky, but it was still beautiful nonetheless.

“Because I’ve lost my child,
Though, I can still hear her crying.”

Vinyl sang once again after Scootaloo completed the verse.

“Red moon, red moon,
Where have you gone?”

The repeated pause signaled for Scootaloo to begin, and she did.

“Into the heavens above
So she may hear my song.”

The duet continued as the mother and daughter held each other close. Vinyl’s own tears had managed to make their way out of her eyes and down her cheeks as they fell onto Scootaloo’s violet mane.

“Red moon, red moon,
Why are you so happy?”

“Because my child is singing
And I know still loves me.”

Vinyl was crying freely now, wanting anything but to let go of her daughter. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself enough for the final verse.

“…Red moon, red moon,
Will you be okay?”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to sing, but nothing came out. She drew a shuddering breath. She began again and couldn’t help but stutter a little through her light sobs.

“Y-yes, for I still love her,
And in my heart, she shall stay.”

The room fell silent as their song ended, except for the sound of their muffled cries and the still beeping heart monitor. Scootaloo felt like her heart was breaking as she held her mother.

Vinyl spoke up, this time her voice was just above a whisper.

“Scootaloo, I… I think it’s time for me to go.” Scootaloo lifted her head with a sudden jerk, fear showing in her deep purple eyes.

“W-what? What are you talking about?” Vinyl didn’t respond, but just looked at her with a sorrowful look. Scootaloo began to shake her head. A desperate expression had made its way onto her face.

“N-no. No, no, no, please don’t,” she pleaded, her breaths growing short and her heart beat becoming rapid. “No, you can’t! Doctor! Nurse! Somepony help!” she shouted.

“Scootaloo, please… I’m so sorry,” Vinyl said.

Scootaloo shook her head, “No, don’t say that. It’s gonna be okay.” She was saying this more for herself than anything, though.

Just then, a pony with an urgent expression on his features entered the room. Scootaloo recognized him as the doctor that had been treating Vinyl, a stethoscope on his tan colored flank as a cutie mark. He hurried into the room with a couple of nurses following behind him. He said nothing to the two mares, but began to check the machines and write on his clipboard he floated in front of him.

“Scootaloo…” Vinyl said in her faint voice. “I’m so sorry that I have to leave you.” Tears streamed down her cheeks and onto the white bed sheet below.

Scootaloo looked at her as best she could as more tears blurred her vision. “No. No, please don’t go. Don’t leave me.” Her voice was cracking and desperate now.

Vinyl raised a hoof to wipe the flowing droplets off of Scootaloo’s face. “Listen, Scootaloo. I want you to know that I love you and I always will love you. I’m so glad to have had you in my life and I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter.”

Vinyl pulled her into another hug. “Just remember that I love you.” She planted a light kiss on her daughter’s forehead.

Scootaloo’s body heaved with her sobs as she tried to control herself. She nodded as she cried into her mother’s mane. “I l-love you, too, mom.”

The orange mare felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a couple of stallions that worked at the hospital looking at her with sorrowful expressions.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you need to leave now, so the doctor can work,” one of them said.

“No,” Scootaloo said as she stood from her chair and glared at the two. “I don’t want to leave. I’m staying here with her.”

“I’m afraid you can’t do that,” the other said. “You need to leave and let them work.”

“No!” she shouted. “I’m not going!”

One of the stallions turned his head and nodded to his partner. The two began to step forward. They grabbed Scootaloo by her front hooves, their grasp strong and firm, but still gentle as they were sympathetic for the poor mare.

Scootaloo tried to struggle but she couldn’t do anything as they began to drag her away.

“No! Let me go!” She thrashed to break free of the ponies holding her, trying with all of her might to reach the alabaster mare that lay on the hospital bed as she slowly faded away from the world.

“Scootaloo…” Vinyl’s voice could barely be heard over all of the sounds in the room, but Scootaloo could still hear it clearly.

Scootaloo reached with her front hoof towards Vinyl. “No, please! I have to get to her!”

The stallions didn’t stop, though, and somewhat reluctantly continued to drag her out of the room. Scootaloo still struggled even though it was useless.

Vinyl’s vision started to fade away, blackness overtaking her eyesight as her breaths became more and more faint. The last thing she saw was her daughter fighting to reach her as the tears flowed profusely down her face. The DJ let out one last breath with her hoof outstretched to her daughter and let her eyelids fall closed for one last time.

The heart monitor flat-lined and its constant screech filled the room.

Scootaloo watched as her mother’s life faded away before her very eyes. She extended her hoof and reached out one last time with all her power to grasp the alabaster mare.

“MOM!”

Octavia rested her hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder. Scootaloo was still looking down at the flower as she waited in the dark back room of the stage.

“You know,” the gray earth pony said. “She would’ve been so happy to finally see you here.”

The past two weeks had been hard on Scootaloo, harder on her than it was for anypony else, but everything she had worked through was for this day.

Scootaloo nodded. “I know,” she said, lost in thought. “I just hope she can still be proud of me. I’m doing all of this for her.”

Octavia smiled at the mare. “Of course she is, dear. And so are all of your friends. We’re all so proud of you.”

Scootaloo looked up at her friend with a small smile. “Thanks, Octavia. It means a lot.” The gray mare just gave a contented look and patted her lightly on the shoulder.

Suddenly, from outside the room they were in, the muffled roar of cheers erupted. Hooves stomping on the ground in applause could be heard, signaling that another musician had just finished their performance. Scootaloo couldn’t remember what music the pony was performing with, though.

Scootaloo heard the voice of the announcer echoing over the sound of the crowd as he spoke through a microphone.

“Alright! Let’s hear it for the Equestrian Blues!” The crowd erupted in cheers as he stated the name of the band.

“I think it’s almost time,” Octavia said beside Scootaloo. Scootaloo looked at her and nodded, standing up from her seat.

She walked to a table that was stood close to her. On the edge of the table sat her signature sunglasses. The orange lenses perfectly reflected her face as she picked them up in her hoof and set them atop her head above her eyes.

“Is everypony enjoying themselves so far?!” the announcer shouted to the crowd, and they responded accordingly.

Scootaloo heard Octavia approach with her hooves clip-clopping on the wooden surface.

“Ready?” she asked the orange mare when she turned to her. Scootaloo gave a nod, a determined look on her face. The two turned and walked to the end of the room and through the entrance that led behind the curtains. The announcer that continued to talk was heard more clearly.

Scootaloo stopped a few feet away from the opening of the curtains and lightly brushed one of them with her hoof, taking in the soft velvety feeling of it.

The pony spoke over the microphone once more. “I hope you’re all ready! ‘Cause this next performance is going to knock you out of your seats. I give you, DJ F1LL-3!” A deafening roar filled the area as the crowd cheered.

Octavia quickly walked in front of Scootaloo and drew her into a hug. “You’re going to do great, dear.” Scootaloo smiled and returned the hug.

“Thanks, Octavia.” Scootaloo drew from the hug and stood facing the curtain opening. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the stage. She squinted for a moment at the stadium lights that illuminated the amphitheater as it stood brightly under Luna’s night sky.

The crowd continued to cheer as she walked. In the middle of the stage stood her turntables and electric board, all set up. She was surprised that they had gotten it ready so quickly. When she approached, she noticed that her record was lying atop the tables in its case. Scootaloo did a quick check at the set, making sure everything was good to go, just like she always did. She gave a little wave to the mass of ponies while they stomped their hooves.

This time, as she looked at the crowd, she did not adorn her shades like she usually did. Instead, she gazed upon the ponies with her own violet eyes. She scanned the crowd until her eyes fell upon the front row. In the closest seats sat Rainbow Dash, alongside Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Each of them was grinning as they watched her. Over towards the middle of the crowd, two ponies stood out over the rest. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sat side by side. Even at that distance, Luna looked Scootaloo in the eyes before giving an encouraging nod.

Scootaloo took another deep breath and raised a hoof to grasp the microphone on top of the set. She cleared her throat before lifting the mic to her mouth to speak.

“Hey, how’s everypony doing tonight?” Her voice echoed loudly and the audience responded with another, albeit slightly smaller, cheer.

Scootaloo smiled at the eager mass of ponies. She was certainly ready to play, but she just had to do one more thing. She spoke into the mic again.

“I’m so glad to finally be here, and I can’t wait to play for you… but there’s something that I have to tell everypony first.” There were hushed whispers heard among the crowd as they all wondered what she was doing.

Scootaloo began, “Well, a few weeks ago, there was an accident and my… my mother died.” Another round of whispers made its way through the masses. “You all know her as Vinyl Scratch, or DJ PON-3.” The faces of the audience varied from expressions of slight confusion to those of sympathy or even sorrow.

“I… just wanted to say that, if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t even be here right now. So I’m dedicating this song to her.” As she set the mic down, the sound of hooves lightly stomping on the ground out of respect was heard.

Scootaloo grabbed the record that sat on top of the set and put it on the turntables. She swiftly adjusted all of the levels and volumes until it was all just right, and then she put the needle on and let the record spin.

Through the speakers that lined the stage, the audience heard the soft sounds of a piano’s keys. The notes were clear and undistorted as they floated into the air. Scootaloo had composed the piano piece on her own, using what Vinyl had taught her. The piece was beautiful. It sang gracefully to the crowd as many of them began to sway to the tune.

Slowly and methodically, the dynamic beat of the kick-drum drifted in, strong enough for it to reach the audience, but not so much that it overtook the piano. Scootaloo listened to the song through her headset with her eyes closed and lightly rocked her head to the beat. Faded electronic accompaniments made their way into the background of the song, barely noticeable, but still there to draw everything together.

The moving, yet gentle melody continued to play, every piece of the song blending into a perfect harmony as it caught the audience in a trance. A silent crescendo grew with the piano as the drums increased their pace almost unnoticeably to some of the listeners. Every transition of the song was perfect and seamless; something only a master of the work could create. Scootaloo, with perfect timing, placed her hoof on the record and let the music suddenly drop into silence.

In the few seconds that she held the record, suspense grew throughout the audience while they waited for the blissful feeling of the bass. Waiting for that brief moment was like a deep breath for Scootaloo.

Then, in another show of perfect timing, she let the record go. The bass dropped and reverberated throughout the amphitheater as it moved in sync with the crowd of ponies. The piano played more intensely than before, matching the emphasis of the base while the drums kept the pace with their steady beats.

Scootaloo closed her eyes and listened as she took the chance to admire her work. Amidst all the beats and the intensity, there was beauty. It was beautiful as everything drew together in a blissful harmony. This wasn’t like any other normal song she had made. For the past two weeks, she had poured everything, her sorrow, her tears, and her joy, into the melody that played right now. Every note, every beat, was everything she felt, it was her trying to reach out to everypony that listened, to reach out to Vinyl.

Scootaloo opened her eyes and looked around her. It had been a little quieter than she had imagined. When her eyes fell upon the crowd, a content smile made its way onto her features. As the song played, there was no cheering, no shouting and celebrating, and no exuberant dancing. No, nopony cheered, they did more than that.

They listened.

They stayed silent, so as not to miss a single note, and listened to the song as they swayed gently to its beat. Some ponies closed their eyes and enjoyed the melody just as she had, while others grabbed a partner and slowly danced as they held each other. The faces of those she knew, her friends, had expressions of joy, approval, and happiness for her. With a glance behind her, Scootaloo saw Octavia with a warm, content smile and watery eyes as she watched the orange mare play her song.

Scootaloo couldn’t help but smile. This is what she had wanted, just for everypony to listen to her. Everypony heard her song; they heard her sorrow, her pain, and her joy, laced with every note that played. An unnoticed tear came to her eyes and rolled down her cheek and fell to the turntable below. She shed this tear, despite her content expression, for she knew that somewhere, Vinyl was watching her with the same smile.

Scootaloo rested her head on the plush pillow and pulled the soft blankets over herself. She was lying in a bed in the royal castle, courtesy of Rainbow Dash for asking the princesses to allow her and her friends to stay there the night. Being an Element of Harmony had its perks. The bed she lied on was pretty soft, though not as soft as a cloud, but it felt great nonetheless.

As she reclined, she decided to go over the entire night before falling asleep. The night had been fantastic, more than she could’ve hoped for. She was sure that it would’ve made Vinyl happy, and that was all that mattered. As long as she had heard it.

Scootaloo chuckled slightly to herself as she thought about the pale unicorn, how they had grown so close over such a short span of time. She often thought about this, but always brushed it off as a silly thought, after all, she had become best friends with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom in less than a day.

Scootaloo let out a content sigh as she recalled the other events of the night. After her performance, her friends had rushed to her with hugs and congratulations. Several of the ponies came to her after the show and actually thanked her for the amazing performance, some telling her that it was ‘touching’. Scootaloo couldn’t help but smile the whole time.

She smiled and let out a relaxed breath. Lethargy quickly took over the exhausted mare. Her breathing became slower and methodic. She didn’t really try to make herself fall asleep, but just waited for it as it came, willingly allowing it to grasp her and drag her into the peaceful world of slumber. And that it did as her eyelids fell heavy over her violet orbs of eyes and she faded pleasantly from the conscious world.

Scootaloo opened her eyes as she stood in a dream once more. This time, however, it wasn’t the familiar haunting stage where the music was soundless. No, this time there was no music at all. Actually, there was no stage, either. The crowd of nightmare ponies was gone, too. The lights, the rumbling base, everything was gone. She didn’t know whether that was good or bad; to tell you the truth, she wasn’t really up for another round of nightmares.

It was dark as well, very dark. She couldn’t see anything around her. Somehow, the only thing visible was her and her body. The floor beneath her felt as if it were tile, except just a little softer.

Scootaloo looked around, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness and focus on something, but to no avail. She sighed out of slight sigh of frustration as she wondered how long she would be in the dream before-.

“Hey there, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo’s heart seemed to stop and she froze when she heard the voice from behind her. She slowly turned around, her eyes wide in disbelief. That voice, it just couldn’t be…

“Mom?”

Vinyl stood in front of her with a sheepish grin, her crimson eyes as vibrant and alive as ever. Her multi-shaded electric blue mane and tail were styled like they always were. Scootaloo took a hesitant step forward, then another, and another, until she was standing in front of Vinyl. The alabaster mare looked at her with her kind eyes and warm smile.

“Mom… I…” She searched for words as her mouth moved, but nothing came out.

Vinyl just gave her another warm smile and a small nod. “It’s okay, Scootaloo.”

Without hesitating for a second, Scootaloo lunged forward, wrapping Vinyl in a tight hug. The unicorn said nothing, but just lifted a hoof and ran it through Scootaloo’s mane as she returned the hug. They stayed like that for a few moments. Scootaloo didn’t want to let go, she never wanted to let go of Vinyl again.

“I heard your song,” Vinyl said. “It was beautiful, Scootaloo. I’m so proud of you.”

Scootaloo didn’t say anything in response and paused for another moment before speaking. “I miss you so much,” she said in a soft voice. She could feel tears starting to build up in her eyes.

Vinyl nuzzled her daughter. “I know, I know. I’m so sorry.”

A tear fell from Scootaloo’s eye as she shook her head. “I just don’t want you to leave again.”

Reluctantly, Vinyl broke from the hug and looked into Scootaloo’s eyes as she wiped a tear off of the orange mare’s cheek.

“Please don’t cry, Scootaloo,” She said, though water was starting to form in the corners of her own eyes. “Do you remember that promise you made to me when you were a filly?”

Scootaloo sniffled as she nodded her head.

Vinyl smiled. “I told you that as long as you love something, then it can never die.” She wiped another tear from Scootaloo’s cheek. “I love you, Scootaloo, and I always will. I’m so happy that you came into my life.”

She raised a hoof and pointed it to the orange mare’s chest where her heart was. “I know that it hurts sometimes, but if you never forget that, then I’ll always be with you.” Scootaloo nodded. She still didn’t want Vinyl to go, but at least now, she’d never really be gone. Vinyl pulled Scootaloo in and nuzzled her with a warm smile as tears began to drip from her own eyes.

A warm happiness spread through Scootaloo, the kind of happiness that only a mother could give, the kind that can never be taken away.

“Do you think you can promise me that you’ll do that, Scootaloo?” Vinyl spoke gently.

Scootaloo gave a sad smile as she nuzzled Vinyl’s mane and shed one last tear of both joy and sorrow onto her mother’s coat.

“I promise.”

A/N: My apologies if the ending was a little… meh. And sorry if the memory with the tornado seems kind of… unrealistic. It’s just that whenever I read a story like this, the pony always gets killed by a typical chariot. Also, sorry that I didn’t have any music for you to hear this time. If it helps, this is something like what I thought of while writing the music scene and I listened to this on repeat while writing Red Moon.

Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed the story. Any feedback or advice would be fantastic. Hope you got some of the feels, too ; ). I honestly almost cried while writing this chapter.

P.S. If you noticed, I did change the lyrics for Red Moon a little from the last story. I just found them to be a bit better that way.