The Fears of Yesterday

by SolidFire


Not Alone

Not Alone

Spitfire's jaw dropped when she saw Scootaloo. Rather, what she didn't see on Scootaloo.

"What happened to your ear!?"

"I tore it off." Spitfire looked ready to faint.

"You... what... why?!"

"I took his life, he can have my ear." Scootaloo spoke as if she had rehearsed it. Spitfire relaxed. Although crude and unnecessary, she could see where Scootaloo's logic would make sense to a guilt-ridden mind. Spitfire sat next to her.

"Scootaloo, you didn't do anything wrong. I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, but you did nothing wrong."

"I KILLED a pony! I ended somepony's life! Don't tell me I didn't do anything wrong!" Tears filled Scootaloo's eyes as she screamed. "I had no right to kill him, no matter what he's done! I-I..." Her sentence faded as sobs permeated her speech. Lightning stepped into the room with Steel hot on his tail. Spitfire already had a comforting wing around her daughter. She gave Lightning a look to let him know to keep quiet. It was better to let Scootaloo cry this out.


Scootaloo had managed to calm down before Spitfire brought her to Nurse Redheart to get her ear stitched shut. The nurse was a bit confused as to what happened to the rest of her ear, but decided it would be better not to ask. She had grown accustomed to treating rather questionable injuries from the Dash family (particularly Rainbow and Spitfire, and those tended to be late at night) so she opted to just fix Scootaloo's ear, accept thirty bits, and send them on their way. Scootaloo still hadn't cleaned the blood from the side of her face, and given that she went for close to four hours with an open wound, she was feeling rather dizzy. They made it home just in time to greet Rainbow as she got home from her weather duties. Rainbow gave her daughter a worried look.

"What happened to your ear? I thought Nurse Redheart reattached it."

"I pulled it off." Rainbow's face twisted into a look of horror.

"You... what... why?!" Before Scootaloo could explain, Spitfire put a hoof on her shoulder.

"I'll explain later Rainbow. For now somepony needs a shower and some sleep." Lightning greeted Scootaloo at the door with a nuzzle. Scootaloo lightly returned the gesture. Steel, as usual, was right on Lightning's heel. Scootaloo headed straight for her bedroom. The shower could wait.


Scootaloo awoke to the smell of spaghetti and tomato sauce. She looked at her clock. It was eight-thirty. She had been asleep for close to six hours. She got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. About halfway there she was stopped by Lightning. The two ponies leaned their heads against each other.

"You alright Scoot?"

"I'm better than before."

"I guess that's a start. Dinner's almost ready."

"My nose beat you to that announcement." Lightning chuckled at Scootaloo's remark.

"When Spitfire cooks that usually is what happens."

"As a rule, yes."

"You get cleaned up. I'll see you at dinner." Scootaloo kissed Lightning.

"I love you Lightning."

"Love you too Scoot." With that the two lovers parted ways.


Scootaloo stepped out of the shower after a significantly longer stay than usual under its cleaning spray. The blood that had caked her coat was now in the home's water recycling system. After toweling off, Scootaloo looked at herself in the mirror. It was the first time that Scootaloo had seen herself without the top half of her ear. She hated it. Hated that it wasn't enough to make up for what she had done. At least the strange looks she would receive would be humiliating for a while. That would be a start. She looked closely at her reflection. Where it had been a clean cut from Jade's knife, it was left ragged after Scootaloo pulled it free. Where her bandmates would refer to it as "brutal," Scootaloo only saw it as a reminder of just how horrible a pony she knew herself to be. Scootaloo decided spending time loathing herself in the bathroom wasn't going to do her any good. She pushed the bathroom door open and made her way to the kitchen. She sat next to Lightning at the dinner table. He wrapped a comforting wing around her. Under his other wing was Steel.

"Finally got him to come to dinner, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm even hoping he'll say hello to you guys tonight." Lightning turned to Steel. "Come on bud, say hi to your sister." Steel burrowed into Lightning, still afraid to meet his sister's gaze.

"Still hasn't warmed up to me yet, huh?"

"Don't worry Scoot, he'll open up to you. Just give him time. Won't you bud?" Steel responded with a whimper. "Maybe it'll take a little while, but don't worry Scoot." Scootaloo sighed and leaned into her coltfriend.

"I wish I was as confident as you about it." Lightning gave a sad smile. He knew his marefriend needed him at the moment. After dinner he'd make sure to spend time alone with her. Steel would be asleep immediately after eating anyway.

"Well aren't you the popular one Lightning," Spitfire said after seeing a pony under each of his wings.

"Not my fault I'm pretty," Lightning responded smugly.

"I wouldn't go that far." Lightning feigned offense at Scootaloo's joke. He managed to hide how glad he was that she was able to joke at the moment.

"That was mean Scootaloo!" He then allowed for a smug grin. "It's also a lie. We both know you can't take your eyes off me."

"Maybe that's true, but I find cockiness highly unattractive."

"Don't give me that, you know when I'm being playful." Scootaloo smiled at Lightning's response and burrowed further into him.

"Yeah, I do," she replied. Spitfire, although not normally a fan of seeing her daughter so entangled with Lightning, couldn't help but be overjoyed that he was bringing a smile to her face.

"As much as I enjoy the scene in front of me, it's going to be a little difficult for you to eat when you're all cuddled together like that." At the mention of eating, Scootaloo's stomach growled. Scootaloo pulled away from her coltfriend.

"You know, eating sounds wonderful at the moment."

After dinner, Lightning carried Steel to his bedroom. The colt, now with a full stomach, was fast asleep on Lightning's back.

"So Scoot, you comfortable sharing a bed with your coltfriend tonight?" Scootaloo blushed at Rainbow's question. All she could manage for a response was a nod.

"Alright. Just don't you go pulling any moves on him. He's a good colt, but any good colt can be corrupted by a mare as pretty as you are." Scootaloo's blush intensified.

"I w-would never... not... ever... not here... or anywhere, I-" Rainbow laughed, interrupting Scootaloo's uncomfortable stammering.

"Scoot, I'm just screwing with you, relax."

"Don't you think that was a bad pun Rainbow?" Spitfire asked with a wry smile.

"What?"

"That you were screwing with her by making her think about having sex with Lightning?" Rainbow pondered her wife's words.

"You know, I wasn't thinking about it like that, but now that you mention it-"

"I'm going to bed. Try not to make too much noise tonight." Scootaloo got up and bolted to her bedroom. As she passed Lightning, she wrapped her hoof around his neck and pulled him into her bedroom with her. Lightning offered no resistance. Scootaloo closed the door behind her. She walked over to Lightning and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. He returned the favor.

"What was that for?" Lightning asked.

"Do I need a reason?"

"What reasons can you think of?"

"Do you want to hear one?"

"Do you want to give me one?"

"Not really."

"Statement, I win!" Lightning happily announced his victory. Scootaloo and Lightning had made a game out of asking questions. The first one to say a statement, repeat the question he/she was just asked, or respond with an irrelevant question lost. It was a challenging game, but a fun one. Scootaloo gave Lightning a playful shove and got into bed. She took a provocative pose and batted her eyelashes.

"You gonna join me?" Before Lightning could regain control of his mental and motor functions, Spitfire burst through the door.

"YOUNG FILLY, I DO NOT LIKE THAT COURSE OF ACTION!" Scootaloo laughed.

"Relax Mom, I was just teasing him."

"Well next time you decide to tease him you tease him about his appearance, or flight skill, or ANYTHING that doesn't turn him on!" A cyan hoof wrapped around Spitfire's neck and pulled her away from the door. Rainbow poked her head in.

"Scoot?"

"Yeah Ma?"

"Not until you're married."

"OKAY Ma." Rainbow kicked the door closed. Lightning and Scootaloo heard her calming Spitfire down. They then heard giggling.

"Please tell me they're not-"

"They're about to have sex. I did that in hopes that it would turn Mom off so we could have some peace tonight. Turn's out Ma's sex drive rubs off on her. Now come up here and join me. I could use a good cuddle." Lightning climbed into bed next to Scootaloo and wrapped his forelegs around her. The lovers again pressed their lips together. Passion emanated from both of them. Scootaloo pulled away.

"Thanks for staying here Lightning. Having you here with me really helps." Lightning looked away.

"I haven't been spending as much time with you as I'd like. I kind of feel like a jerk." Scootaloo was confused.

"I don't understand..."

"Ever since I've been here I've been spending almost every minute of my time with Steel when you need comforting as much as he does right now." Scootaloo smiled at her coltfriend's undying loyalty.

"Lightning, you're not doing anything wrong. Steel needs to know he's not alone in the world right now. I already know that I'm not." Lightning gave her a concerned look.

"Scootaloo, you tore half of your ear off earlier today. I know you wouldn't have done that if I had been with you." Scootaloo touched her right ear and smiled.

"Lightning, I know you want to do everything you can for me. But believe me when I tell you I'm fine." Lightning frowned. He always knew when Scootaloo was lying. Right now she wasn't lying to him, but she definitely wasn't speaking the truth.

"Scootaloo, you're not fine. It's alright to need somepony, especially after what you've been through the last few days." Scootaloo thought about what Lightning had said. She could have used a shoulder to cry on the last few days. But she knew she could tough it out.

"Lightning, your loyalty is one of the reasons I love you as much as I do. But I can-"

"I know you can tough it out Scootaloo, but I want you to know that you don't have to. You can let it out any time you want. I'll be right here for you." Scootaloo kissed her coltfriend. She found herself falling more and more in love with him every time she was with him.