//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Wings of Darkness // by Strange Charm //------------------------------// Sweetie Bell and Applebloom had long since left, and Scootaloo was left alone at the clubhouse once again. She didn't mind this time, though, because she finally felt like she belonged. And for the first time since she had been bullied, her self-esteem was finally back up. Scootaloo thought about what she should do. Maybe she would go into town and bet something to eat. She was kind of hungry, after all. The more she thought about it, though, the more she thought that would be a bad idea. She would have to explain to everypony about her wings, and she still didn't have a good enough lie. She figured that Miss Moon could cover for her again, but she had been a little creeped out by the way that Sweetie Bell and Applebloom had been...hypnotized. There was no other way to describe it. Scootaloo didn't like the thought of hypnotizing the whole town, it would be wrong somehow. She was grateful for Miss Moon's help, but she would rather not have her do it again. In the end, Scootaloo decided to just grab some apples from the nearby Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn't stealing, because Applebloom had invited her to do so anytime. She was growing tired of deception, anyway. She munched the apples as she sat under a tree near the back of the orchard. The sunlight glinted through the tree's branches and fell on the ground in a beautiful way. There was the quiet chirping of birds all around her, and the occasional buzz from an insect as it flew by her ears. The sweet smell of apples filled Scootaloo's nose, and she smiled. Everything in the world seemed right. There were only a few clouds in the sky, but none of them could block out the sun. Scootaloo looked up at the sky. It was hard to appreciate nature's beauty when she was under a cloud of grief. She smiled at the sight of the clouds. Undoubtedly, Rainbow Dash was napping on one of them, enjoying the sun like Scootaloo was. It always looked so comfortable, napping on a light, fluffy cloud. Scootaloo has only felt a cloud the few times that someone had been nice enough to bring one down from the sky for her to touch. If only she could nap on one like Rainbow Dash... Clouds were extremely soft, after all. Then she remembered. She didn't even bother being surprised anymore. She just grinned with a stupidly happy smile as she raised up her wings and pulled them powerfully down, pushing her into the air. She set her sights on the closest cloud, and aimed herself towards it. Still a bit wobbly, her path to the cloud was zig-zagged and full of ups and downs. But when she finally got there, she flopped onto it's nearly intangible surface. It was the softest thing she had ever laid on. Relaxation filled her muscles as they were pressed into the supple fluffiness. I think I understand why Rainbow Dash likes to nap so much, Scootaloo thought. If I could sleep on clouds, I would sleep all the time, too. She reconsidered what she had just thought. More like 'Now that I can sleep on clouds, I will sleep on them all the time.' She liked her revised thought quite a bit. The breeze blew gently, and the sun was so warm. And at that moment, Scootaloo was feeling terribly drowsy... With that, she fell into a peaceful sleep. ========================================== Scootaloo heard laughter below her. It was the high-pitched giggling of fillies as they played. She yawned and rolled over on her cloud. I wonder if that's Sweetie Bell and Applebloom, she thought. Maybe I could go play with them. She stretched her muscles, which were refreshed from her cloud bed. She looked down to see if she could spot her friends. Scootaloo gasped. This place wasn't the same as it had been before. She was no longer at Sweet Apple Acres; she was clear on the other side of town. I guess it's not that surprising, she thought to herself, the wind could have carried me anywhere while I was asleep. She examined the new place and discovered that she was at Diamond Tiara's house. The giggling was from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who were playing in her yard. Scootaloo scowled. She didn't like hearing her bullies having fun. She sighed. She had hated them for so long... She looked at her wings. They couldn't really tease her anymore, now that she was healed. Maybe it was time to forget. And to forgive. "Now really, do you think you should forgive that easily?" Miss Moon suddenly chimed in. "What?" Scootaloo had been caught off guard, Miss Moon having been quiet for a while. "What do you mean?" "I mean, do you really think that they'd do the same for you?" Scootaloo thought about that. No, they probably wouldn't forgive her that fast. But she did know that it was the right thing to do, and that she didn't want to become just like her enemies. "I'm going to forgive them anyway. Even if I don't tell them I've forgiven them, I'll still do it. I want to be the better pony." Clap, Clap, Clap. It sounded like Miss Moon was clapping, but how was that even possible? "Well done, Scootaloo. You made the moral decision. Even with negative peer pressure. Congratulations." The slow clap continued. Scootaloo didn't feel very congratulated, though. There was something about the way she said it... Was that sarcasm? "Unfortunately, I don't have time for moral decisions. I take the time to bring you all the way here to your enemies, the only two ponies in the world that you truly hate, and you don't even get the slightest thought of revenge. I suppose I should be impressed. But no, I have plans." Miss Moon paused. Scootalo was becoming awfully confused by everything that was being said. Miss Moon continued. "You need to get angry, Scootaloo. Angrier than you have ever been in your whole, short life. I need you to become one tiny, potent ball of mindless rage that you will do anything to get your justice. Do you hear me? YOU. ARE. ANGRY!" Having slightly lost her interest in what was being said after she stopped really understanding what Miss Moon was saying, Scootaloo was surprised by a sudden wave of emotion. What had Miss Moon just said? Be angry? That seemed like a perfectly rational decision. She now wanted to hurt those fillies, and she wanted them to pay. The anger filled up her entire body, and left her with no other thoughts. It was the only thing left, the only thing that she wanted out of life. Why had she ever wanted to forgive? Forgiving was for the weak. She remembered every bad thing that had ever been done to her. Every time she had been scared, embarrassed, or mad. Every taunt and tease coming from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. It was painful, but Scootaloo let the pain turn into more anger. The more anger there was, the more hurt she felt, and the more hurt she felt, the angrier she got. Nightmare Moon chuckled. "That's better. Now, what do you want?" She asked just to be sure. "Revenge!" yelled Scootaloo. "I thought you might say that. I can give that revenge to you, if you let me do one thing first...A little magic might make things easier. How about a unicorn horn to go with those wings?" ========================================== Twilight was out shopping in the marketplace. She always seemed to run out of things so quickly, especially ink and parchment. One can never have too much ink and parchment. "Spike, did you bring the shopping list?" she asked. "Yeah, Twilight, but I think most of it's still in the library...," he replied. A long trail of parchment snaked behind him off into the distance. "Well, looks like it's going to be a long day of shopping!" Spike groaned, but Twilight chose to ignore it. "We'll have to stop by the bookstore, the apple stand, Quills and Sofas... Spike, are you even listening?" Indeed, Spike had not been listening. He had fallen asleep on his feet. "Oh, come on Spike. I'm not that boring," she said to herself. "Did I mention that were going to Carousel Boutique?" She yelled the last part in his ear. Spike immediately jolted awake. "What? Rarity? When? Now?" He looked around wildly. Then he blushed. "I mean... It's always nice to meet an old friend...heh heh." Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled. So predictable. "Well, we'd better get going! You don't want to miss-" Just then a huge BOOM echoed across the town. "What- What was that?!" Spike yelled. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out!" said Twilight. She began to run in the direction of the blast, leaving Spike behind. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew up to Twilight and sped next to her. "Twilight! Did you hear that? What in Equestria was that?" "I have no idea what it was, but we have to find out! Do you know where the sound came from?" "Yeah, I think it came from over there," Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof ahead of them, "towards the outskirts of town." "What's over there? Anything important?" "Oh, just some particularly hoity-toity houses." "Rainbow! That means there are ponies there! Someone could be hurt!" "Oh, right..." They quickly approached the edge of town. What could have caused an explosion like that? Twilight thought. She mentally ran through a list. A gas explosion? A bomb? Magic? There weren't many unicorns in Ponyville. It was unlikely to be magic. When they got to where the explosion happened, they gasped. There was what used to be a huge mansion, except now it was reduced to a pile of burned rubble. "Oh no! Who's house is this?" Twilight asked frantically. "I don't know, Twilight." replied Rainbow Dash. "I know," said a voice. Two little fillies walked out of some nearby bushes. "It's my house." The fillies looked okay, so Twilight was temporarily relived. "What about your parents? Are they okay?" She racked her mind for a name. "...Diamond Tiara?" "They're fine," Diamond Tiara said with a sassy tone. "Business trip. But what the heck happened to my house?! That's what I want to know." "We were kinda hoping you could tell us that," said Rainbow Dash. "Well, Silver Spoon and I," she gestured to the other filly, "were playing in the yard when.... I don't really know." She looked uncertain. "It looked like something hit the ground and exploded. We ran into the house, but it was no safer there. The house was being bombarded with these... bombs! We escaped out the back without being seen, but by that time my house was already gone." She gave the two adults a glare. "So I ask again: What happened to my house?" "Umm," Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at each other. Neither of them knew. "Did you say bombs? That might be important." Rainbow said. "Ug, are you stupid?" Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "They weren't real bombs. They were magic bombs." "Wait, magic?" asked Twilight. "Magic can be traced. Maybe if I just..." Her horn lit up. "Watchya doin', Twilight?" Dash asked. "Each unicorn has a unique magic signature. If I can identify this magic, we can catch whoever did this." Her horn flashed. No sooner than Twilight had cast the spell that her eyes widened in a look of shock and horror. "No... This is bad," she said. "What? What's so bad?" Twilight looked straight at Rainbow Dash. "This is the darkest magic I've ever felt, except one other time. Rainbow Dash, she's back..." She glanced at the fillies, then pulled Rainbow Dash close and whispered in her ear, "It's Nightmare Moon."