Scootaloo had gone down her own path, sensing Adara’s light. It was an odd feeling to say the least, it was as if she was close and yet far away, but the feeling deep inside her was guiding her to the Entity the Hope, bringing her ever closer. The young pegasus filly stopped for a moment, feeling a painful ache in her wings. She didn’t want them to know, she couldn’t, even though it saved Sweetie Belle’s life, her wings still rang out the painful protest of having been reduced back to the useless small size they once were. It was getting to her enough that she had to slump against a wall just to maintain her balance.
“I can’t let this slow me down, not after how much of a pain in the flank it was to get Rainbow Dash and Twilight to let me come on this mission…!” She spoke aloud as her mind flashed back to that very conversation.
~~~
“You’re not going Scoots, it’s way too dangerous!” Rainbow yelled.
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo had exited Fluttershy’s cottage and spoke alone with each other a few ways away from the others. The plan was set for Scootaloo, Fluttershy, Cadance, and Applejack to infiltrate Canterlot Castle, find the Positive Entities, and become one with them to fight against the Negatives. Although the plan was sound, Rainbow Dash had major reservations with sending a child to do something this dangerous, especially when that filly was her surrogate little sister.
Scootaloo, for her part, was vehement about going on this mission. Yes she knew it was dangerous, yes she knew that there was a chance she might be killed, but she didn’t care. Scootaloo needed – no wanted – to go and help Adara. She needed to understand, to hear it from the mouth of her…fillyfriend? That was another thing that needed to be addressed, but only when she met with the cosmic being, face to face.
“Rainbow Dash you heard what Princess Cadance said about only certain ponies they chose could ‘unite’ with them! And I’m one of them!” Scootaloo argued.
“Look, I know you’re a hopeful filly, like your friends. But I have enough hope for all of you, just let me go instead, I don’t think Adara would mind.”
Scootaloo groaned in frustration. “Rainbow Dash you don’t know if it works like that! What happens if you turn into something like Spike or Nightmare Moon! You don’t know if them choosing somepony is important or not, for all we know it’s very important!”
Rainbow Dash rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to get through to the little filly that she really didn’t want to have her be anywhere near Canterlot when all this went down. Thankfully, some aid appeared in the form of a purple alicorn princess, having been worried about her marefriend and their charge.
“What’s going on out here?” asked Twilight.
Scootaloo trotted up to her second guardian, “Rainbow Dash won’t let me go on the mission in Canterlot! Even though Princess Cadance told us that I’m the one Adara chose, tell Rainbow that she doesn’t have to worry and that I’ll be fine!”
Twilight gave her marefriend a worried look, which was mirrored in the cyan pegasus. She then looked down at the pegasus filly with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry Scootaloo, but…but I think Rainbow is right.”
“What?!” Came the combined reaction from Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo for not believing she was agreeing with what her idol said, and Rainbow Dash for actually hearing her “well-read” lover say she was right.
“It’s just too dangerous Scootaloo! You saw what Nightmare Moon did to Sweetie Belle, if she’s willing to harm a filly, then she’ll show even less mercy when she sees you and Adara in a singular form! Nightmare Moon will kill you Scootaloo…and…” Twilight lowered her head, her bangs covering her eyes a little. “I just don’t want to lose you…!”
Scootaloo looked upon the alicorn with sadness, hearing the pain in her voice. Rainbow Dash walked over to Twilight; standing beside her she draped her wing over her marefriend.
“When we thought that you would never fly again…it broke my heart…knowing that there was nothing I could do, I felt powerless for the first time in my life…Even with everything I’ve learned from Celestia, even after ascending, I still didn’t have the power to make you better, to give you your wings…”
“T-Twilight…”
Rainbow Dash sighed, “She isn’t the only one squirt. It was the same for me…I was supposed to be your big sister, and that meant looking out for you. I should’ve noticed something was up with your wings a long time ago, I never even thought that you might’ve been sick before…and then there was the whole, you know, you living in a treehouse and stuff…”
Scootaloo rubbed her left foreleg as she looked down at the ground. “It’s…It’s not your fault Rainbow or yours Twilight…They’re just things that happened to me…the whole homeless thing was my choice, but my wings…” Scootaloo glanced at her avian appendages. “…That was a shocker even to me…” Though it would make sense if he was the one who did it…
“All we’re saying is that we don’t want to risk losing you, you’re a part of our family Scootaloo, one that I…” Twilight looked to Rainbow. “I was hoping to make with Dashie here.”
Scootaloo looked up at the mention of her idol’s pet name and snickered a little when she noticed Rainbow Dash blushing hard from hearing Twilight utter it in front of the pegasus filly.
“Twi, seriously…don’t start with the sappy stuff right now, you’re gonna make me act sappy next…” Rainbow sniffled.
“I…I love being part of this – our – family. But Spike and Adara are part of that family too. I can’t turn my back on Adara, not after everything she’s done for me, and I definitely can’t turn my back on Spike either. After all, I can’t just let my big brother suffer like that.” Scootaloo blushed upon hearing the words that exited her mouth. “D-Don’t tell Spike I said that!”
Twilight and Rainbow chuckled from Scootaloo’s embarrassed look, which made Scootaloo join in. After a minute the laughter died down and the two mares looked upon the filly once more.
“This is something you really feel that you need to do?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Scootaloo nodded an affirmative.
“Even knowing how dangerous it will be? That there is a real possibility of you…dying…are you still willing to go? ” asked Twilight.
There was a pause, Scootaloo thought it over. Yes she would be hurling herself into the proverbial warzone, yes there was a very strong possibility that she might get killed by Nightmare Moon or Queen Chrysalis, but really, in a morbid way, it wasn’t like Scootaloo was a stranger this situation, despite what the two mares before her knew about her. But there was more at stake here than just her life, Adara and Spike, indeed, everypony she loved and cared about was in danger if she did nothing.
Scootaloo looked up at her guardians, making sure her resolve was showing in her eyes. “Yes, I am.”
~~~
“And that was that…GAH!” Scootaloo winced when a surge of pain shot through her wings. “Although, I could’ve done without the pain…Just get it together Scootaloo, think about Adara. Find Adara!”
Steeling herself, Scootaloo pressed on through the hallway, galloping as fast as her little hooves could carry her. Which was pretty fast considering the majority of her life she relied on them, her scooter, and her wings if for nothing else than propulsion. She found herself wishing she had her favorite, and only, scooter with her, knowing it would make traversing the maze like castle that much easier. Of course, when she did think about having it, Scootaloo remembered that it was now amongst the charred remnants of the library.
Pushing that depressing thought out of her mind, Scootaloo pressed onward, trying to find Adara before anything really bad happened outside. There was no telling how long everypony would last against the super powered Nightmare and Chrysalis, along with Spike and his greed incarnate possessor.
The pegasus filly had ran down one hall after the other, passing by several doors only to find that not a one had Adara in it. She tried to focus on the feeling, but it was garbled, almost like hearing static. But she couldn’t let that discourage her, just like Adara, she had to believe, to keep the faith even in this trying time.
That’s when she stopped; she glanced to her right and stared at the door next to her. She knew it, this had to be where she was, Scootaloo was certain of it. Taking a deep breath, Scootaloo pushed open the door, revealing a cage made of yellow, red, and orange light, and a large, three-faced blue bird sitting within it. Each of her three beaks had a sullen look; it was a tragedy to see such a majestic and wonderful being like her sad. Adara seemed to finally take notice of the filly since her eyes went wide with surprise.
“Hi Adara,” said Scootaloo. “Wow…I can’t believe this what you really were the whole time…”
“Scootaloo!” A smile graced the faces of the Entity of Hope, but they quickly became serious upon realizing the situation. “What are you doing here?! It’s too dangerous you have to leave now!”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the warning. “Seriously, first Twilight and Rainbow Dash give me the same warnings, and now I hear it from you. It’s a little late for me to turn back now Adara, that chance was gone the moment I came here.”
Adara looked aghast at what Scootaloo had said. “W-Why would you do that?! Why would you risk your life like that?!”
“Like you need to ask…” Scootaloo walked closer to the cage, but stopped half way when she noticed the energy that made up the cage react to her presence. “You’re my fillyfriend, why wouldn’t I come to help you?”
Adara looked away from Scootaloo, a feeling of shame washing over the Entity of Hope. “I don’t deserve to be…I’ve been lying to you since the first day we met, deceiving you into thinking I was a filly like you…but in reality this is what I am. A being that’s been in existence since the beginning of the universe.”
“Then tell me, why did you…you know, say you love me? Was that a lie too?”
Adara shot back a panicked look at Scootaloo. “NO! By the Life Entity that was not a lie, none if it was!”
“So why is it bad that you say you care that much about me?”
“Because…I am…I am scared of how I feel…”
Now that earned a confused look from Scootaloo. “Scared? I mean, yeah, it was kinda scary when we became fillyfriends, I mean, I don’t know what being a fillyfriend fully means, but we’re learning and Twilight and Rainbow Dash will help us.”
Adara shook her head, “No, it’s not that. I am the Entity of Hope, while I do care about all living things; I never knew what love actually meant or was. That was always Predator’s light. But when I met you, I felt my heart – my mortal heart – begin to flutter. I did know what it meant, but as I spent more and more time with you and everypony else, I began to understand what it was. That’s when doubt entered my mind. How would you feel about me once you saw me in this form? Would you even still look at me? Would I even feel the same way about you in my true form as I did in my mortal form?! These questions plagued me, and I never had to think about them until they arrived. So now you know, Scootaloo.”
The pegasus filly remained silent for a moment to digest the words Adara spoke to her. “I’ll admit, when the Princesses told us about who and what you guys are I couldn’t wrap my head around much of it, to be honest some parts of it are still confusing.” Scootaloo then looked up at the Entity of Hope and grinned at her confidently. “But I know one thing: none of that matters to me.”
Adara looked upon Scootaloo with shocked expression plastered on all three of her faces.
“I don’t care that you’re the Entity of Hope, to me, you’re just Adara. The filly who saved me from plunging to my death, the filly who helped me conquer my worst nightmare, literally. The same filly who gave me the greatest gift I could ever ask for and, it was that filly I…that I, ahem, fell in love with…” Scootaloo could feel her face burning with embarrassment from saying those words. They were so mushy and sappy that she couldn’t believe that they actually came out of her mouth. But she needed to let Adara know, she needed to tell her just how much she meant to the filly.
“Scootaloo…”
“If anything, you being the Entity of Hope is just one more thing I love about you…so, please, don’t look sad, you look cuter when you smile.”
Happiness swelled within Adara, it was strong, invigorating, and powerful. The moment the three-faced bird smiled her aura pulsated outwards, striking the cage and nullifying the confining power of the three negative lights. When the cage disappeared, Adara quickly shifted into her pony filly form, lunging at Scootaloo and hugging her fiercely. The cerulean pegasus cried a few tears into Scootaloo’s shoulder as she continued to smile. Scootaloo hugged Adara back, happy to have the one she cared about in her forelegs again.
“I thank you, Scootaloo.” However, when Adara opened her eyes she finally took notice of Scootaloo’s diminished wings, letting out a shocked gasp of realization. “Scootaloo what happened to your wings?!”
Scootaloo separated herself a little from Adara and put on a sheepish smile. “Well, when you guys were taken, I used the gift you gave me and used it to bring Sweetie Belle back.”
“She’s…She’s alive, and you brought her back?!” asked Adara happily.
“Yes, I learned it from you. Honestly I didn’t know if it would work, but, I had hope.” Scootaloo punctuated her sentence by “booping” Adara on her snout, making the filly scrunch her nose in a cute manner.
“I’m glad, but we’re not out of the woods yet. There is still the matter of the others outside.”
“Yeah, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and some of the others are keeping those three occupied while the four of us got inside the castle to meet up with you.”
Adara cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner. “But we didn’t have much luck the last time; even with everypony fighting together we’ll be hard pressed for victory.”
“That’s why we should do what they did, the two of us becoming one. Princess Cadance called it ‘uniting’ or something.”
Adara thought this over. Yes, uniting would give them the power they needed to counter the others, and her light would shine brighter and stronger, weakening the others to a degree. But was she really ready to do something like this with Scootaloo? The determined look on her face made her sure that Scootaloo had already made up her mind upon entering the castle, and that it had not been swayed in the slightest.
“Be aware Scootaloo, uniting will make you attuned to the power of Hope, and you’ll become that power. It can be a bit overwhelming, carrying the hopes of many on your shoulders. Do you think you can carry that burden, and wield its power?”
The confident smirk on Scootaloo’s face spoke volumes. “Who the hay do you think I am, Adara?! We beat my nightmare together, and we’ll beat Nightmare Moon together too!”
Adara’s smile broadened. “Very well, close your eyes and concentrate. Just like before use your hope to reach out to my light, and through it, feel the hope of all others. When you feel it is right, speak our oath and it will be done.”
“You make it sound like a different oath than the one you told me before.”
“It is. It will be our oath, born of our united mind and body.”
Scootaloo nodded her understanding and closed her eyes, with Adara doing the same. The cerulean filly’s body flared with the peaceful light of Hope, the energy rising and falling like the beating of a heart. Scootaloo could feel that same comforting power, and as she was instructed, she reached out to it. The hope that Sweetie Belle would be okay, the hope that they would defeat the Negatives, the hope that Adara, herself, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash would become a family, and be together forever, these hopes combined within the orange pegasus and made her body glow with a similar light. The two auras grew and grew till they joined together as one. Scootaloo and Adara could feel it, their spirits and minds becoming one as the power of Hope gave them the words to their oath.
“In fearful day, in raging night,
With our wings we now take flight!
Open your eyes and see this sight,
All will be well – Hope’s shining light!”
Adara’s body broke down into particles of blue light that swirled around Scootaloo, lifting her up into the air. The particles entered her body, empowering Scootaloo beyond anything she could ever believe was possible. The light energy continued to swirl around her, obscuring her from view. In a few short seconds two large blue light wings emerged from the ball of energy, followed by another pair of shorter blue light wings. The sphere then shattered apart, revealing the one attached to the wings.
Scootaloo’s body was adorned with a uniform all her own. A black suit that covered most of her body, with blue boots upon her hind and forelegs, and a small upper chest plated that covered most of her upper half. A circle was at the center of her chest, glowing with the blue light of Hope like a rare and beautiful jewel. Scootaloo’s four large wings fluttered lightly as she floated back down to the floor, touching it softly. The young pegasus filly examined her body, but mostly staring at the four wings that protruded from her back, hardly believing that she was moving them with little to no effort.
“Do you feel it Scootaloo?”
“Yeah, all the hopes of everypony on Equus, they’re all so clear to me. Even…Apple Bloom’s, and Rarity too! I can feel them! And they’re close!”
“Then let us free them, but first, let us give aid to our friends.”
“Okay, but how?”
“Radiate the light of Hope, shine it through the whole castle and ignite Willpower, with Ion empowered by our light, and with his bolstering ours, we will be unbeatable.”
“Alright then!”
Scootaloo flared her four wings as her eyes shined with the blue light of Hope. The filly’s body let loose a radiant wave of light that went out in all directions. After a minute of waiting, the familiar surge of Willpower was sensed, doubling the already awesome power of the united duo, and making Scootaloo’s aura flare with a new vigor.
“Let’s help our friends, Adara, together!”
“Yes, together as one!”