It Isn’t Mine
Scootaloo stirred in her sleep. Sweat poured down her face as she struggled against the forces of her own mind. She couldn't bear to be inside her own head...
Scootaloo was watching a filly, one a little older than herself. As she walked the streets of Cloudsdale, she saw a familiar face. He had a beige mane and a dark brown coat. His cutie mark portrayed three basketballs. She smiled and walked over to him.
"Hey Rainbow Crash!" he joked. She laughed.
"Hey Sky Scraper! What's up?” She gave him a nuzzle. They were obviously close. Scootaloo guessed he was her coltfriend. Suddenly the view switched to first person. Scootaloo WAS Rainbow Dash.
"Ready for tonight?" he asked with a devious grin.
"A whole night to hang with my coltfriend? Hay yeah I am!"
"Hanging wasn't exactly on my mind." She frowned.
"You know I'm not ready for that."
"It'll be fun. Come on, you and me having the most fun we can possibly-"
"I SAID NO! Let's... go for a walk." The two walked quietly through the city streets. After a while, they started chatting and everything seemed to be back to normal between them. That is, until they came across a dimly lit alleyway.
"Hey Rainbow, I want to show you something."
"In there?"
"Yeah, come on." Sky Scraper ran into the alley and Rainbow followed suit. She lost her coltfriend.
"Sky Scraper?" she called out. No answer. Two hooves landed on her back and forced her to the street. "Hey, what the hay are you doing?"
"Getting what I want," Sky Scraper replied coldly.
"Stop! No, wait HEY!" Rainbow began to cry as he climbed on top of her. A stallion walked by the alley. He stopped to look at the two young ponies. "HELP!" Rainbow called out to him. He turned and walked away.
Scootaloo awoke with a scream. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire were instantly awake.
"Scoot, are you alright?"
"GET OFF OF ME!"
"Scoot, it's us. Your family. Rainbow and Spitfire." Scootaloo cried harder and dove into Rainbow's forearms.
"Another nightmare?" Rainbow asked. Scootaloo nodded.
"What was it about?" Spitfire asked.
"It isn't mine! It's hers!" Scootaloo pointed at Rainbow Dash. "That didn't happen to me, that memory isn't mine! Nopony's ever done that to me before!" Rainbow Dash swallowed. There was no way that Twilight's spell had transferred that memory. There couldn't be. Scootaloo didn't need that. Spitfire looked at Rainbow Dash and frowned.
"What happened Scootaloo? What was the dream about?"
"Her." Scootaloo pointed at Rainbow Dash. "And somepony named Sky Scraper. He-"
"He raped me when I was just a couple years older than you," Rainbow finished her sentence. She couldn't believe Scootaloo had to see that.
"Yeah." Scootaloo sniffled. The door to their room burst open, revealing two Royal Guards ready for a fight.
"Everything's alright," Spitfire told them. "Just a nightmare." The guards sighed. Staying at the Princess' castle had its perks, but the guards were not always one of them.
"Bucking kids..." one of them muttered as they shut the door and returned to their posts.
"Scootaloo, what you saw... it happened a long time ago. It can't hurt you." Rainbow attempted to reassure the filly. How could she? She remembered when it happened. She couldn't handle it then. How could Scootaloo handle it now? It was definitely going to be a sleepless night for the filly. A gentle knock was heard at the door.
"Hello? I'm sorry, but I just heard somepony scream, and I was wondering if I could help." Rainbow recognized Fluttershy's soft voice immediately.
"Come on in Fluttershy." The door slowly and quietly swung open and Fluttershy stepped into the room.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. Scoot here just had a nightmare," Spitfire said. Scootaloo had now curled up next to Spitfire. The filly was shaking badly. Fluttershy walked over to her and laid a hoof on her head.
"Hush now, quiet now it's time to lay your sleepy head..." As Fluttershy finished her song, Scootaloo fell into a deep sleep.
"Thank you Fluttershy." Spitfire nodded her head and curled around Scootaloo.
"Fluttershy, can we talk outside for a minute?" Rainbow asked.
"Sure, what about?"
"Scootaloo's dream."
"I don't think I can help with that."
"Yes you can. You see her nightmare... let's talk outside."
"I'll be here when you get back." Spitfire didn't look away from the sleeping filly while she said it. Rainbow and Fluttershy walked outside.
"Remember back in Cloudsdale? What I told you about... Sky Scraper?" Rainbow asked Fluttershy.
"Oh my, that was... do you need to talk about that?"
"Scootaloo just had a dream about it. She said it was my memory, not hers. When she began to explain, I knew what she dreamed about. You helped me get through it when it happened. I don't get why, but I know you were the biggest help for me then."
"Rainbow, I just comforted you-"
"You showed me that I was worth something. I think that's what-"
"You always were an oblivious pony. If you don't mind me saying."
"Huh?" Rainbow was confused. That was awfully assertive of Fluttershy.
"Rainbow, she was living in a home with two ponies who didn't care at all about her existence. I know you can't imagine what that's like, and I'm glad I can't, but that's all changed for her. You and Spitfire have been showing her all the love I showed you back then and more. I'd be happy to help her make sense of some of the dreams she's having if you and Spitfire can't, but you two have already shown her that she's worth everything. If you see it that way." Rainbow didn't know what to say. She just got chewed out by Fluttershy... and it was to tell her that she was doing something good for somepony!
"I... uh... thank you Fluttershy."
"You're welcome. I'm feeling tired. I'm going to head back to my room now and get some sleep. You should too, Rainbow Dash. If you're tired."
"You know, sleep sounds very good right now. 'Night 'Shy. Don't you get too crazy with Soarin." Rainbow winked. Fluttershy blushed.
"Oh my, no, we have different rooms, and we're not married, and-"
"Relax 'Shy, I was just messing with you." Rainbow walked into her room and closed the door. Spitfire had fallen asleep next to Scootaloo. Rainbow wished she could take a picture of the two. She climbed into bed behind Spitfire and wrapped her forelegs around her. Tomorrow she was going to ask the magic doctor if he could take those memories away from Scootaloo. She had enough on her mind already. She didn't need more.
"Come on Doc, there has to be something you can do!" Rainbow pleaded with him.
"I have a spell I can try, but the risks are too high," the doctor replied. "I don't want to risk it."
"How bad could it be?"
"If it goes wrong, it will leave your daughter brain dead, or worse."
"What can be worse than brain dead?"
"It can literally pulverize her brain, killing her. I think we both know the better alternative here."
"I... understand Doctor. I... thank you for your time."
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you with this one.
"It's okay, you've helped us quite a bit over the last few days." Rainbow Dash shook his hoof and walked outside to her awaiting friends and family.
"Well?" Spitfire asked.
"He says there's nothing he can do without a high risk of killing her in the process."
"Oh my, that would be bad," Fluttershy said nervously. Soarin patted her on the back.
"So what are you gonna do?" he asked Rainbow.
"Nothing. All we can do is hope the dreams stop."
"If they don't?"
"You know, I'm really feeling like staying positive here. How long do you still get to hang with us?"
"I have to head back tonight." Fluttershy's head dropped. Soarin noticed.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Don't miss me too much."
"Soarin, if I knew that getting you a marefriend would get you to visit us, I would've organized something with the bridesmaids at the wedding," Spitfire laughed.
"We were the bridesmaids," Fluttershy noted.
"I know. I was there," Spitfire chuckled.
"Come on, we have a full day in Canterlot. Let's go enjoy it!" Twilight chimed in.
"Can we start at that donut shop? I'm feeling hungry," Scootaloo finally chimed in. She was surprisingly quiet when they were talking about her.
"I say we get something healthy before we dive into donuts." Rainbow patted Scootaloo on the shoulder.
"Awww, alright," Scootaloo replied with a sigh.
"Come on, I know a great sandwich shop in town. We can eat there," Twilight said. The group happily headed toward town, eager to make their last day in Canterlot a good one.
At a nearby building, a pegasus was washing windows. He hated his job, but he needed some form of income. He heard the voices of happy mares and looked down to see if any of them were at least somewhat attractive. However, what caught his eye was not any of the mares. Sure, there were a couple of beautiful mares below him, but what he cared about was the orange filly with a purple mane and tail. She flew up onto the cyan coated mare's back and wrapped her forelegs around her. The golden coated mare leaned her head against the other mare's rainbow colored mane. It couldn't be. His daughter was living with a couple of fillyfoolers.
Not on his watch.