//------------------------------// // Nightmares // Story: I'll Always be Here for You // by The Abyss //------------------------------// “No, leave me alone!” Scootaloo shouted, running into the kitchen. She slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, using her small weight to keep it closed. Alas, it was all for naught as both her parents used their combined weight to push it open. Stumbling forward, Scootaloo barely caught her balance before her parents rushed in, their hooves raised to attack. In the brief moment before they struck, Scootaloo looked up into her parents’ faces and saw hate in their eyes. It was at that moment that Scootaloo realized they weren’t going to merely give her another beating. They wanted to kill her. “Get away from me!” Scootaloo screamed. She darted underneath her father’s legs and ran back out into the hallway, sprinting for the front door. Her heart beat so fast she could feel it thumping in her breast. Quickly closing the gap to the door, she tried to rip it open. She didn’t think it possible, but her heart beat faster as she realized the door wouldn’t budge. Her head darted every which way, searching for a way out. Upon seeing none, she gave the door another few desperate tugs. “Ugh, come on!” Suddenly, sounds of heavy hoofsteps came from behind her, down at the other end of the hallway. “You’re goin’ nowhere!” Scootaloo heard her father yell as he advanced on her. She heard him snorting angrily as he stepped closer and closer, and she whipped her head around. Her father was only a few steps away, and he had a wicked sort of bloodthirsty grin on his face. Scootaloo looked back at the door, still tugging on the handle. Something told her to look up, and she finally realized that the deadbolt was locked. Without wasting another moment, she fumbled with the latch and upon hearing it click, she took a step back and ripped the door open. Throwing caution to the winds, Scootaloo ran outside, using her wings to give her that extra bit of speed as she jumped over the steps leading up to the door. She landed roughly on the dirt, skidding a couple feet. Using her wings to catch her balance, Scootaloo started running towards the open gate to freedom. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that her parents had just emerged from their house, watching her run away silently. Standing in place, they both wore smug looks on their faces as they watched her. Apprehension rose in Scootaloo’s chest. What are they– A bright flash of white light suddenly flooded her vision as her head erupted in pain. Scootaloo had just unknowingly ran right into the fence, stopping her dead in her tracks. If she had been a foot to the right, she would have been able to run straight through the open gate, but in her fear and confusion, she hadn’t noticed that she had drifted to the left ever so slightly, putting her directly on course with one of the support poles. Her head ringing, she groaned as she shook her head. Her vision was blurry and she saw spots swirling all over the place. She blinked several times as she tried to clear her vision, and in her stunned state, she forgot to keep track of her parents. The sound of heavy hoofsteps snapped her from her reverie. Scootaloo’s eyes snapped wide open and she saw two menacing shadows creep over her, coming from behind. Knowing that she’d lost and that she had nowhere to run to, she trembled uncontrollably as adrenaline flooded her system. Fearfully, she looked up with tears in her eyes, her lower lip quivering. “Please…” she begged, her voice barely a whisper as her parents advanced on her silently. A couple terror-filled seconds later, they both stood over her, coldly staring down at her. “Please… I’ll promise I’ll be better!” Scootaloo said, backing up against the fence. Her heart beat faster and her breaths came in small and fast. Her father stepped on her tail, pinning her in place. Scootaloo tried tugging it away, but it was to no avail; there was no escape. “Please…” Scootaloo croaked. “Leave me alone…” She closed her eyes; she couldn’t bear to look anymore. “Never!” Both her parents yelled at the same time. “Scootaloo!” somepony’s voice called out. “Scootaloo, wake up!” She felt somepony shake her roughly and she opened her eyes to see not her parents, but a concerned Twilight standing beside her bed. Her eyebrows furrowing, Scootaloo looked down, and instead of the cold, hard ground that she was just on, she found herself laying on her side on a comfy mattress, a cold blanket slung over her. She hesitantly sat up, peeling the sticky sheets off her. As soon as she did so, though, she was struck by a blast of freezing air. “Tw– Twilight? Is that you?” Scootaloo whimpered, quickly pulling the sheets back over her shoulders. “Wha… where are we?” She couldn’t stop shivering. The damp sheets were her only source of warmth, and there wasn’t anything else to warm her. Even the mattress and the pillow beneath her were soaked through. “You’re staying at the library for a week or so, remember?” Twilight asked gently, climbing onto the bed. She settled down beside the quivering filly and laid a reassuring hoof on her, only to pull it back when she noticed the sheets were damp. Raising a hoof to Scootaloo’s forehead, she quickly realized that the filly was soaked with sweat. “Were you…” Twilight cleared her throat as she made herself comfortable, sliding up close to Scootaloo. “Were you having a nightmare?” Scootaloo looked up into Twilight’s eyes and nodded silently. “My parents… They– they were trying to kill me, and they… and they...” she choked out, barely able to speak clearly. Scootaloo curled up into a small ball and pulled her tail as tightly to her as she could. She closed her eyes and tried to steady her errant breathing, but to no avail. A few moments passed in silence as she tried to calm herself when she felt the familiar touch of magic surround her. Cracking an eye open, Scootaloo peered up at Twilight through the strands of her tail. Scootaloo was just about to open her mouth and ask what spell she was casting when she felt herself, and the sheets below her, start to warm up. Quickly realizing that Twilight was abolishing the sweat from her body, Scootaloo stayed quiet, letting the alicorn do her job. Several more seconds passed in silence as Scootaloo felt herself warm up. Her shivering ceased slightly, but as soon as she was dry, it stopped altogether. As soon as the spell was complete, Scootaloo pulled the sheets back up over shoulders, still feeling a little chilly. “That better?” Twilight asked softly, her voice barely louder than a whisper. “Yeah… thanks, Twilight…” Scootaloo gave Twilight an appreciative nuzzle. The moment her cheek touched Twilight’s neck, she realized that she was so much warmer than the pitiful blanket she was using. Looking down, Scootaloo realized that it wasn’t the quilt from Rainbow’s. In fact, that quilt was pushed into a ball at the other end of the bed. Standing up on shaky hooves, Scootaloo stepped to Twilight’s side and settled down against her, right where her wing was. As soon as their bodies touched, a blissful warmth enveloped her, and she sighed happily. She crossed her forelegs and let her tail twitch from side to side in content. Even though she hoped that Twilight would just drop it and let her go back to sleep, there was no doubt in her mind that she was going to ask her about the nightmare. “So… um, do you want to talk about it?” Twilight asked, smiling gently as she let Scootaloo lay down next to her. It was not uncommon for fillies, colts, and in special cases, baby dragons, to seek comfort from someone after going through a particularly rough nightmare. She was glad that Scootaloo thought of her as somepony she could turn to for help, and that filled her with feelings of joy. “I promise it’ll make you feel better if you do…” Twilight rubbed Scootaloo’s back with her wing. Scootaloo’s breathing slowed down a good bit and she relaxed into Twilight’s embrace as she felt the alicorn’s soft feathers stroke her back. A sense of security filled her, something that she hadn’t felt in ages, giving her the strength to say, “The nightmare… it felt so real; it was like I was really back at my parents’ place. They chased me through the house, and I barely escaped out the front door. I would have escaped if I didn’t run into the fence, and as I came around, my dad had me pinned. The next thing I saw was…” she trailed off, letting her nerves get the best of her. The images were still so fresh in her mind, it was if they had really just happened. Letting her ears droop, she shuddered as she saw her father raising his hooves to strike her in her mind’s eye. “The next thing you saw was what?” Twilight asked, prompting Scootaloo to continue. All throughout Scootaloo’s tale, Twilight had never stopped rubbing the filly’s back, taking care to not be rough with her recently-healed wing. She knew Celestia had healed the broken bones, but she wasn’t sure if she healed everything else as well. “The… their eyes,” Scootaloo croaked, hiding her muzzle in between her forelegs. “They really wanted to… to kill me…” She couldn’t help but let a few tears slip from her eyes. She looked away, trying to hide them from Twilight. “Hey… don’t be scared,” Twilight said softly, pulling Scootaloo closer to her. She flicked her tail so that it landed around the filly, and she held her tightly with a wing. Twilight lowered her head and nuzzled Scootaloo’s cheek. “You’re safe here, and your parents are going to be locked away in Canterlot for a very long time for what they did to you, and there’s no way that they’ll ever be able to hurt you again,” Twilight said firmly, hoping to reassure her. “You have Rainbow and I to watch over you now; never forget that. You can always depend on us…” “Re– really?” Scootaloo asked, lifting her head from her hooves. Her cheeks were stained with her tears, and she couldn’t help but feel weak, but she didn’t care about hiding that anymore. Twilight’s words brought strength to her, and her ragged breathing calmed ever so slightly. “You… you mean that?” Her words quivered with an unspoken hopefulness. “Of course, Scootaloo, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.” Twilight nuzzled Scootaloo again, eliciting a happy hum from the distraught filly. A small smile graced her lips as she asked, “Say, how about we get some sleep now?” Lighting her horn, Twilight pulled a couple pillows over to them. She let Scootaloo grab one, and just as she set her own head down on her pillow, she felt Scootaloo tug on her wing, pulling it closer to her like a blanket. “But… but what if I have another nightmare?” Scootaloo asked, letting her fear get the best of her. “I don’t want to go through something like that again…” She snuggled closer to Twilight, as if the larger mare could protect her from having nightmares. “Oh, I don’t think you will…” Twilight murmured, already feeling the weary pull of sleep on her mind. She pulled the sheets back up over them and murmured, “Besides, nopony has nightmares when they’re with someone…”