//------------------------------//
// Chapter Twenty-Eight 
// Story: Salvation 
// by Sandstorm Inkwell 
//------------------------------//

Opening my eyes, I saw Twilight's bed underneath me and the rays of day seeping from the window. How long was I out? I think to myself as I stand and stretch. This was the sixth day of the week so that meant no school. Lucky me, I think sarcastically as I jump off the bed and begin to head to the main room.

Reaching the main room, I watched as Twilight's head poked out from the kitchen.

“Oh! You're awake. Do you want some breakfast?” she asks as she fully steps into the main room.

Shaking my head, I reply, “No thanks. I'm not hungry.”

“Okay. Well, Pip was looking for you earlier. I don't know where he went, though.”

“Thanks Twilight,” I reply with a smile before making for the door and walking outside. I let the door close behind me before taking in a deep breath of air.

“Scootaloo?”

Looking toward the voice, I see the pony that I was expecting to meet. When he noticed me looking at him, he turned his attention to the dirt.

“Hey Pipsqueak,” I greet, walking over to him. His look of surprise took me off guard as he looked up at me with a smile.

“You're not mad at me still?”

“Pip,” I start, using his common nickname, “I was never mad. I was just frustrated that the only dad I've ever could possibly never come back.”

“Oh. I see,” he replies, “How are you doing today?”

I smile at him before sitting down and looking up at the sky above, “I still miss him but... I know that nothing I can do will make him come back before he's done.”

I feel a hoof go over my shoulders. Looking down, I was surprised to see Pip now sitting beside me, his foreleg over my shoulders.

“It'll be alright,” he says with a genuine smile. I feel heat rush to my face as I look down at the dirt. Stupid reactions, I groan inwardly.

“Hey!” Pip exclaims, “Want to come play pirate with me?”

I look up at him and smile, “Sure.”

He smiles big, “Follow me then!”

With that, he removes his foreleg and starts running off. I sit there for a little while longer, wondering at the feeling of sadness I felt when he removed his leg from around my shoulders. What is this? I ask myself before galloping after Pipsqueak.

We ran through half the town before stopping in the school's playground.

“What... are we doing... here?” I ask, trying to catch my breath after all the running. Pipsqueak may be small but he was fast and had a lot of energy. I watched as said colt walked over to a bush and jumped in. Not a minute later, he jumped back out in his pirate costume.

“Arr! We are here to collect my valuables, m'lady,” he explains with a pirate accent. I find myself giggling at the act. I looked down at myself and then back up at Pip. He was looking at me as well. Again, I felt blood rush to my cheeks and shifted on my hooves.

“It seems that the fair maiden needs a costume of her own,” he says, not breaking character. He puts a hoof to his chin as he looks at the ground in front of him. Finally, he says, “Arr! I believe that Madame Rarity may have a costume for you. Let us be off!”

With that, he was running again and I was galloping after him, smiling all the way. I found my mind drifting to the colt I was following. His life seems so simple. Run, play, and run some more. I know it's not that simple though. Underneath, he probably has hardships like everypony else. I wonder what they are.

Arriving at the Carousel Boutique, I witnessed Pipsqueak the Pirate in full character. No knocking, no nothing. He just barged into the store shouting:

“Pipsqueak the Pirate has come asking for a favor or two!”

Giggling, I followed him in to see him standing in a pose. His chest was puffed out and his head held high. Rarity looked shocked, to put things simply.

“Have you not heard of knocking?” she exclaims, standing up from where one of her recent projects.

“Pirates don't knock!” Pip protested, “Now, Madame Rarity, I come seeking an outfit for my fellow pirate here.”

“Well, they should learn to,” I hear Rarity mumble as she looks at me. She then give a sweet smile, “Ah, Scootaloo. You're playing with Pip here?”

“Yep!” I reply happily.

“That's good. You needed some fun time,” she replies before pointing to a colorful chest off to the side, “There should be some costumes in there. Go ahead and take your pick.”

I nod before trotting over to the chest. Pip beats me to it though and begins digging with wild abandon, flinging clothes everywhere. He soon pulls out a costume that looks similar to his own except that the coat is brown and the bandanna is green. Unlike his, though, there is no eye-patch. Without even waiting for anypony to say anything, he pushes me and the costume into the changing room shouting:

“Stand fast, matey! We shove off in the hour!”

When I'm alone in the changing room, I look at the costume and smile. I realize then that I needed this. Some fun to overcome the sadness. Quickly, I put on the costume before walking out to see Pip standing before me with an extra wooden sword on the ground in front of him. I also spy a fuming Rarity glaring at us from the corner of the room.

“Quickly now! It seems the locals have turned against us!” Pip shouts, pushing the sword to me, “Grab your sabre and let us be off!”

Biting down on the handle of the wooden sword, I look back up to see that Pip was already heading out. While he went, he dodged bits of clothe that were tossed at him by Rarity.

“Out! Get out you beast! You destroyed my store!” she shouts. I look around and notice that we did cause a bit of a mess getting the costume. Without thinking about it any further, I gallop out after Pip with wooden sword still in mouth. Once we were outside, I found the loop in my coat's belt for the sword and sheathe it.

“Where to now Captain?” I ask, finding myself falling into the part now that I had a costume.

“To the water of course!” he replies before galloping off in the direction of the pond. I gallop after him, this time leaving about the same time as him so that I was running alongside him.

“Aye!” he continues, “Together we shall sail the waters of Ponyville!”

I find myself blushing again at his words. Together. Is that what's causing me to blush? The thought of being with him? These thoughts just cause my blush to deepen. I watch as Pipsqueak turns to me and looks at my cheeks. I smile at him, causing the colt to blush himself and look away.

If it is, then I guess he feels the same.