A Glimmer of Light
Sequal to The Road To Dawn
A cool breeze extended itself through the grass of an open meadow. It was dark. The moon was full. The light it cast illuminated everything in the field in a blue light. A lone stallion wandered through the field. A cloak and hood disguised most of his features as though he were a shadow trying to hide in darkness, even though the moon’s light cast on him revealing him to the world as though he were wearing nothing in the light. Black hooves could be seen poking out from the cloak as he walked and his yellow eyes pierced the darkness that the hood cast across his face. But his face was still hidden all then same. Darkness and he where considered close. As another gentle breeze broke across the field, a small whimpering could be heard up ahead. The stallion ceased his walking as he stopped to listen to a noise that sounded almost alien in such a quiet, lonely place.
“Help me” could be heard faintly but the direction was hard to discern.
The stallion took off running in the direction he hoped he had heard the noise come from. He feared the worst as the whimpering was starting to fade. He called out a 'hello' in hopes of hearing where it had come from as the meadow appeared empty no matter which way he looked. Then he felt it. It was like a tickle sensation telling him to go in a certain direction. Though the stallion did not understand it he followed the sensation as it led him through the field until he finally came upon as small opening in the field where the grass appeared to be no longer growing. In the middle lay a small filly.
She was covered in scrapes and bruises and appeared to be unconscious.
Rushing forward, the stallion was quick to be at her side. On closer examination she appeared to be an orange Pegasus with under developed wings. She had a scruffy looking pink mane and had no cutie mark. The stallion bent down to try to see what exactly her condition was only to jump back as the filly opened her eyes. She gazed up at the stallion briefly before muttering something and falling back unconscious. From what the stallion could tell it almost sounded like she said, “Rainbow…Dash.” The stallion stood there and thought for a moment before bending down and carefully putting the young filly on his back. He then started walking in a direction he hoped would be nearby shelter. The little filly continued to mumble in her sleep as he continued to walk, looking around in all directions.
***
Scootaloo felt like she had been shot out of a cannon then nearly set on fire afterwards. Believe it or not she knew what that felt like due to past experience. She didn’t want to open her eyes yet. She was afraid of what she might find. She knew she wasn’t in Ponyville and she knew she had flown far. Every part of her brain was telling her to open her eyes. But fear for where she might have landed kept her from doing so. Another Fear hit soon afterwards but she pushed it down as soon as it had come. She has had that Fear for a very long time and had learned how to get rid of it. But it always managed to find its way back.
Scootaloo could feel a warm feeling on her nose.
Curiosity finally got the better of her and she opened her eyes. Without lifting her head she scanned her surroundings. She was in the middle of a big field near a big line of trees. One of the trees was growing away from the forest and that was the tree Scootaloo was under. Looking ahead of her she saw a small fire burning and a pony sitting beside it, staring at it. Its back was to her. Scootaloo wanted to say a lot of things. Most of them being: "Where am I?" "Who are you?" "Did you bring me her?" and "Do you have any idea what it feels like to be shot out of a cannon because I sure now do." But instead all that came out was a simple groan.
The stallion turned his head around. The hood over his face kept Scootaloo from seeing it but she could swear she could see his yellow eyes through the hood. He tilted his head to the side in what Scootaloo guessed was a look of concern.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
Scootaloo nodded and tried to get to her hooves, however the pain that soon shot through her legs prevented her from doing so. She settled for trying to crawl toward to the fire. Stallion looked up at the sky before looking back down at the filly as she made her way closer next to him. When she finally had herself in a position she was comfortable in, he spoke up.
“So are you going to explain what a filly like yourself is doing out in the middle of a field just beyond the Everfree Forest?”
Scootaloo was silent for a moment. He did help her out so maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him somewhat of an explanation. Besides, he seems like an ok pony to talk to.
“Ok, I was trying to fly and I am not very good at it so I got my friends to shoot me out of a cannon.”
Scootaloo looked back up at the stallion. He removed his hood partially and she could now see a look of surprise and concern.
“Listen, kid, I may just be an Earth pony but I know that can’t be the right way for a Pegasus to learn to fly. Considering how far you fell and the circumstances, I would say that you are lucky just to be alive.”
Scootaloo turned and stared at the fire again. She was silent for awhile again before she spoke up, “I know, it was stupid but I thought that if I got up in the air, even if it was just for a moment, things would be awesome. I thought that then maybe they would stop calling me names if the saw me fly just once. Maybe SHE would finally see me for who I am and who I want to be.” Scootaloo felt that Fear she felt earlier return along with some other emotions to top it off. The stallion lifted off his hood. Scootaloo saw his face between the light of the fire and the moon. He had yellow eyes that appeared to be glowing. His mane was dark blue and red on the top. It was spiky and kinda reminded her of the mane that Time Turner had though the stallion’s hair appeared scruffier. His fur was black and a small scar barely visible appeared over his left eye. He gave her a small smile as he looked off into the distance.
“Listen kid; trust me when I say that if you think that your life is bad, there are others who have it way worst.”
Scootaloo felt a mix of emotions consume her but one that stayed on top was anger. Who was he to tell her that her life wasn’t so bad?
“You think I have it easy. You think I am just some filly facing problems that every other pegasi has? My life has been anything but! I am an orphan. I have never met my parents. I am a blank flank who gets mocked every day. I see pegasi who are younger than me fly with ease yet I have to struggle just to hover off the ground. I get mocked for my wings as well. I am Pegasus yet everyone calls me chicken. I can’t fly. I don’t think I will ever be able to fly. What kind of Pegasus can’t fly? A freak of nature, that’s who! Every day I wake up in a small tree house using newspaper as my blankets. I go to school only to have me and my friends mocked for what we don’t have. But you know what? At least when they get beaten down they have families to go home to. What do I have? Nothing. I thought that things would get better when I finally got a big sister. But what’s the point of having an amazing sister like Rainbow Dash if I can’t FLY WITH HER!?” By this point Scootaloo was in tears. She felt as each tear fell, a bit of herself fell with it.
The stallion, who had been standing the whole time sat down and put his hoof on her shoulder. “You may not realize this, but we have more in common then you think.”
Scootaloo looked up at him in surprise.
The stallion looked off into space before continuing, “Unlike you though, I truly have no one. I lost my friends and family a long time ago. I have been wandering ever since. But you, however, may not realize this but you have more than I do or will ever have. You have people who care about you. You have friends and you may not know this but sometimes, friends can also be a family. I walk down a road that goes between light and dark. But you walk a path that shines brighter than anything I have ever seen. You are just simply blind to see it. Life can be hard and unforgiving. But if we truly believe that our life is darkness, then that is exactly what we become. Look to the light kid, its closer then you think. If you can get past this darkness that has its grip on you, then trust me when I say that the power you posses, will be seen like no other. Just remember, don’t give up and let your friends be your guide.
Scootaloo rubbed her eyes with her hoof trying to get rid of the tears. She still felt unsure but she felt a sense of weight being lifted off her shoulders. She looked up at the sky. The stars where shining and the moon was full and she felt better then she had in a long time.
Just then a faint voice was heard through the sky.
Scootaloo perked her ears up. She looked across the night sky. Then she heard it:
“Scootalooooooo? Where are you? Please answer me.”
She turned her head around looking for the source. The calling became louder until finally she spotted a cyan Pegasus pass just beneath the moon. Scootaloo’s heart jumped out of her mouth and back again as she yelled as loud as she could, “Rainbow Dash!” The cyan pony whipped around at the sound of her name and dive bombed the campsite. As soon as she landed she hesitated at the sight of Scootaloo.
Scootaloo tried to run toward her only for her fall on her face. Upon seeing how badly Scootaloo had been damaged it had caused her a near heart attack though seeing her try but fail to run toward her caused her heart to immediately slap her awake as she ran forward and embraced the filly with her wings.
Scootaloo wrapped her hooves as far around Rainbow Dash as they would go. She felt tears rolling down her body. But she didn’t care. Because they were not just her own. They held each other like that for what seemed like hours yet it may have only been a few minutes.
After regaining some composer she looked up at the stallion watching them. Rainbow Dash glanced down at the filly still crying into her fur. She then looked back up at the stallion and nodded her head, “Thanks, for finding her and taking care of her. I don’t know what she was thinking.”
The stallion walked over and sat down next to RD. “I have a pretty good idea. When you both get back, I believe you two should have a talk. What she says may surprise you. But I can tell you that right now she needs a guardian and you seem perfect for the job.” RD just nodded as she looked down at the filly who had now fallen asleep in her wings.
“Anyways you should get her to a hospital. The injuries she sustained aren’t fatal but she won’t be walking anytime soon.” The stallion stood up and carefully helped RD position Scootaloo on her back. Rainbow smiled at the sleeping Scootaloo.
As Rainbow Dash prepared to take off, she glanced over at the stallion one last time. “Thanks again, for everything. By the way I don’t think I got your name.”
The stallion was about to answer but before he could he felt a bit of heat on his back. He turned to see the sun slowly rise in the distance as dawn approached. The stallion looked back a cyan pony and smiled, “Its Lock Breaker and something tells me we will meet again. Someday…”
Rainbow Dash grinned at him and took off heading back towards Ponyville and hopefully a better place for Scootaloo. Lock snuffed out the fire and turned to the growing light of the sun.
He smiled with a look of determination as he continued on down the road.
Time to continue the path I walk, though now it almost appears brighter than before.