//------------------------------// // Concert // Story: You're Wanted: I'll Always Protect You // by SciWriter //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash’s perspective So the day was finally here, Vinyl’s comeback concert. Sheesh this was awkward. I was so new to this mom thing, and it didn’t help that Scootaloo was pretty much new to the idea of even having a mother. I had adopted her about three months ago from a terrible home with a mother who pretty much left her to starve, only leaving a few bits on the table for her every week, like a family stipend or something. Scoots went through a lot even after I adopted her, so it’s not really surprising that she screwed up. Still, about a week ago she said something pretty nasty to her friend Sweetie Belle, basically wishing Sweetie would experience a tragedy of her own and pushing her away because she hadn’t. When my own mother passed away, I had said a few similar things. Lost a lot of good friends that way. I was NOT going to let Scootaloo make the same mistakes. Thus I gave her her first punishment. No Cutie Mark Crusaders for two weeks. Harsh I guess, but if she wanted to push away friends, I figured I would give her a preview of what that would lead to. So what was I doing at a concert WITH Scootaloo then? Well one of Scootaloo’s friends, a filly named Lightning Strike, was staring as a performer in it. Lightning looked up to me but I didn’t really know her all that well myself. The thing was, from what I understood, she had a pretty hard time making friends. Apple Jack convinced me that keeping Scootaloo from the concert would basically be akin to punishing Lightning rather than just Scoots. I was thus making a rather shaky exception. Course not like Scootaloo was making this easy. And her friends weren’t helping. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found us in the crowd as Vinyl was still doing her instrument checks. Apple Bloom was about to speak when she was overridden. “Scootaloo!” came a shout. And yea, that was another one of Scoot’s friends, her own little admirer, Dusk. He came barreling over to her. I stepped in between. He looked up at me with big pleading eyes. I held my ground. I looked over at Scootaloo, her giving me the same eyes. Sheesh, no one ever told me mother’s had to have iron resolve like this. I found myself almost preferring one of the group would throw a temper tantrum, but they were all too well behaved for that. Thus I just looked and felt like the bad guy. And thus a mini war started up in my head. It went something like this: ‘Look at those eyes. Remember Scootaloo is your friend, your admirer, she’s never hurt you, how can you do this to her!’ ‘She hurt one of her friends.’ ‘So you hurt her?’ ‘It’s not about that.’ ‘Dusk admires her, like she admires you, can you really keep them apart?’ ‘Sure I can.’ ‘Do you really want to?’ ‘No…’ “Can Scootaloo come sit with us?” Apple Bloom asked. ‘It’s for her own good, for her own good, for her own good,’ I kept repeating in my head. “Not today,” I said nervously. AB sighed. “Okay, c’mon Dusty, yer sister ll’ start gettin’ worried if she don’t see ya.” Dusk looked up at the sky. “Twilight is supposed to be watching me during the concert, where’s she at?” he asked. “Right here kiddo,” my lavender friend said, landing beside me. A purple energy field went around him and she lifted the small blue earth pony into the air with her magic. I would comment on how excited seeing him made his big sister on stage, but she was performing in the comeback concert of her biggest idol, Vinyl Scratch, happiness was pretty much just her mode right now. Looking at the yellow filly on stage, one couldn’t help just smiling in general. She yelled, giggled and started hugging Vinyl, moving at ridiculous speeds. ‘Doesn’t Scootaloo deserve to be happy like that?’ ‘Shut up! Please shut up! What are you the anti-conscience?’ AB, Dusk and Sweetie settled in on the other side of Twilight. Technically they were pretty close to Scoots, but I decided not to start splitting hairs, they weren’t together and that was the point. Still, my mind was hammering away at me. Until I heard Scootaloo speak up. “Um Sweetie…” I was about to interrupt as she said it. “I really am sorry. I don’t ever want to see you hurt okay? You believe me right?” On the other side of Twilight and Apple Bloom, Sweetie smiled sympathetically at Scootaloo. “Of course. I already said I forgive you.” I smiled as the words of Scootaloo’s therapist came back to me. His words went something like this; “Try not to think of yourself as the girl’s friend or enemy, not her protector, teacher or even her leader. You’re her parent. Your job is to be what she needs when she needs it.” She needed to have someone show her right from wrong in this instance. She got the message it seemed. It seemed maybe I was doing right by her, much as it was hurting us both. The music started and everyone quickly got quiet. All that dreary punishment business aside, I hoped me and Scoots could get some enjoyment out of this. Lightning Strike had some unusual abilities and they were the reason Vinyl was having her perform. Certainly and most assuredly, one of her special talents was NOT singing. The base dropped and she started singing anyway however. I had to try so hard not to laugh my head off and embarrass the filly. She admired me so much she had her own nick name for me after all, Rebel Rainbow. Still, hearing her belt out lyrics brought a pretty big smile to my face. Thankfully for us both Vinyl cut Lighting’s mic and tried to drown out her singing with the music and a few prerecorded voices. The chorus changed and on stage Scootaloo’s friend started to fly. Then the base dropped again, Lightning touching down on the ground of the stage, finally showing off her major talent that so many came to see along with Vinyl’s music. She slammed down her right hoof and a huge bolt of electric energy shot out from it, shaking the crowd. The chorus hit and ponies all around me started their own little dances. Well… most of them did anyway. Scootaloo was rocking out, dancing like a fool, which made me pretty happy to see. Apple Bloom, as this was NOT her kind of music, was trying her best not to roll her eyes… again. Dusk started trying to sing along, which was really just him mouthing the words as he heard them and trying to guess the next word. Next to me Twilight just rocked her head a little. I’m not really sure what kind of music she’s into. I should ask some day. Sweetie Belle of course didn’t know how to dance at all, so that made for a display almost as comical as Lightning’s singing… did I say almost? Actually as she suddenly tripped over one of her own hooves and face planted in the dirt, I had an even harder time not laughing. All the while overhead lightning bolts started shooting out in time with the music. I had to admit this was a dazzling display. Several times a bolt went off over head that was so powerful it shook me down to my hooves with thunder. The lightning actually looked pretty dangerous and I understood why all pegasi in the audience had been given strict guidelines NOT to fly. Still, not fly? A pegasus not fly? Well yes there’s Scoots but she’s disabled. I felt like my hooves were chained to the ground. The music was awesome and the lightning display was the best I had seen in ages… well maybe ever, I don’t even think a unicorn could do better. (Take that unicorns! That was a pegasus filly up there!) I wanted to be in the air, surrounded by all the awesomeness… maybe even trying to get a little attention. I know it’s wrong to show off at someone else’s show it’s just… this was so awesome and I couldn’t fly! I love to fly, I need to fly! I swear if I don’t fly for a certain number of hours a day, I get sick. It’s never really happened that way but I’m pretty sure it could. Best keep flying just in case and all. The music hit a sudden calm. It started to rev up then for a huge drop in the base and change in tone. I waited, this sounded like it would be cool. Vinyl was even turning down the volume. Lightning landed rearing up to pounce and no doubt shoot out a blast like no pony had ever seen. Instead of dropping forward with the base, on stage Lightning Strike dropped backwards, eyes wide, ears tucked down and mouth fixed open in terror. Lightning slowly got back upright, however still shaking, wings stuck to her sides and head down. The music stopped. I followed the filly’s gaze to… something hanging in the air just a few meters away from me. What looked like a gray pegasus hung in the air with its wings sticking straight out. One has to understand, flapping only does so much for pegasi, however flying without flapping at all, I don’t think it’s possible, besides it’s creepy as hell. The pony’s mane and tail blew in the still air and his eyes were held shut. It slowly opened its eyelids to reveal two objects that looked like eyes in its head but… eyes don’t glow blue and they usually have irises if I remember correctly. These eyes emitted a baby blue aura and only had tiny pupils. The eyes pointed at little Lightning Strike. The thing then started to smile. Behind the mock stallion’s lips were sharp teeth, like those of a shark, all of them giving off the same baby blue aura. His smile just kept opening, threatening to split open his face- no his smile actually did split open his face, cutting straight through to the start of his neck. Not sure what to do, I pushed Scootaloo under my stomach to protect her. She didn’t object much, starting to tremble. “Hello Lightning.” Said the creature without moving its lips. “YOU!” Lightning shouted. Electric energy surrounded the filly, lifting her into the air. The creature disappeared. I started scanning the air and crowd. What was this, part of the show? The creature reappeared on stage. The look of sheer horror on Lightning’s face as she dropped to the ground banished any illusions I had. Whatever was happening, was no show. I reared back to fly to the defense of the little filly, but something suddenly made me freeze. Scootaloo was holding my leg. I could easily have pushed her off but- actually I felt like I could sooner have pulled off my own leg than push her away. I was spooked, but watching a horrible creature bear down on one of her friends, it had to be terrifying her. On stage Vinyl crashed through her instruments and tried to come to her little fan’s defense, but with just a look from that creature, Vinyl fell back in fear as well. Vinyl wasn’t completely backing down however, she warmed up her horn to fight back. Lightning screamed in pain, her wing moving in a strange fashion. It then hung by her side in a motion I knew all too well. Nothing had touched the filly, but somehow her right wing just broke. A small ache came to my own right wing remembering the pain of an accident I had a few years back. Rage and terror shot through me, but Scootaloo’s terrified hugging on my leg kept me on the ground. I looked at Twilight, who was signaling our friends in the crowd to start moving. I didn’t get it. How was she feeling less scared than me? “This is a declaration of intent,” Came the voice again, this time the creature’s lips actually moving. “The girl belongs to me, as does her young friend. I will take what I want and soon, what I am forming will cause a cataclysm that will be remembered until the end of time.” I wanted to fly onto the stage and start beating this creep, but again I couldn’t move. Scootaloo was scared and for some reason that held me like a row boat trying to escape the anchor for a battle ship. As I kept having a war with my own emotions, Fluttershy walked past me. “Fluttershy, wait for my signal!” Twilight scolded. My normally timid friend didn’t even look at Twilight as she flatly said, “No.”. She shot up to the stage and landed in front of Lightning Strike almost with a thump. Watching Fluttershy, a few select memories came back to me. Her confronting of a massive dragon, the story of her staring down a cockatrice, in both those instances, Fluttershy saved her friends with incredible courage. However no one had ever seen what she was like if someone actually managed to hurt another pony in front of her. Fluttershy shook with a fury that even from a distance looked to completely eclipse my own. Fluttershy spread her wings. “No one hurts a filly in front of me!” Twilight had left before I even knew it. She landed between the creature and Vinyl. “Agreed. Come quietly or this will get ugly.” I couldn’t leave Scoots, this was torture. “What are you doing?!” Scoots demanded. “That’s my friend up there, move!” Finally I pushed her off my hind leg, like those words set me free. I shot into the air. “Personally I’m hoping to mess this freak’s face up even more than it already is.” I shouted. This THING would be destroyed. It had hurt one of Scootaloo’s friends… wait what? Why didn’t I care about Lightning just for her own sake? “Go ahead and resist.” The creature grinned at me. His gaze changed slightly to looking down to where I had been in the crowd. I had to fight a look of fear and just pushed a glare, hoping he wouldn’t realize my weakness. Vinyl suddenly stumbled to the side like something had struck her. “Enough!” shouted Twilight. “Trying to fight a little girl and a musician?” AJ crawled up on stage next to Fluttershy and behind the entire group, instruments and wood debris started to float all around as Rarity walked on stage towards the group. “Try fighting me and my friends. I guarantee we’ve fought tougher than you.” “Oh no doubt you have, I’ve kept up with the news about you… five?” asked the creature. “Over here!” came Pinkie’s voice. I have never really heard Pinkie seethe with anger before, but then again, I’d never seen someone pretty much torture a child in front of her before either. Still as she spoke, the cannon she pointed at the stage, which she had no doubt pulled out of thin air, did not look at all like her normal party cannon. “Step away from the filly. No pony hurts kids while I’m around!” “Do you six really even know this girl?” the creature asked back. “Doesn’t matter,” came Twilight’s answer. “We’ll protect her just the same. Now what’s it gonna be? You can surrender or you can fight. I don’t place much odds on you liking the outcome either way.” “Or I could run away,” he continued. “You could try,” Twilight said, giving me a slight glance. I stared at the monster, just waiting for him to attempt flight. “If I were to fight you and win, what would I really gain besides an injury that would likely impair or kill me? One or two of you I might challenge, but this is ridiculous. If I go with you, I’ll be imprisoned and my plan will come to nothing. Thus my decision has been made for me it appears.” Said the creature. It sounded like rambling to me really, I was just waiting for him to attempt take off. He opened his wings and I felt my adrenaline start to flow. Here it came, no one could beat me in the air, and this thing was going to be no exception. Twilight and the others started to move as if to prepare for a chase as well. The creature disappeared. Had I blinked? I saw him one second and in less than a second I just didn’t, like he was never there in the first place. No mist, no light flash, no waiting for me to blink, he was just gone. I started scanning the crowd over and over. I glanced at Scootaloo several times. She was fine, her friends and her had gathered around Dusk, who currently was trying to get to the stage, yelling his sister’s name over and over. He looked pretty scared, but not as bad as Lightning herself, still whimpering on stage. Twilight cocked her head at me a few times and I shot away, circling over the crowd several times. I scanned in the crowd, I scanned the sky, I even started to fly way outside the bounds of the concert into town. Nothing. No sign of the creature anywhere. What was going on? I returned to the group quickly. “It’s like he’s just gone,” I said. Frustration started to mount inside me. He got away, that mother bucker got away! Twilight closed her eyes. “I don’t like how confident he sounded.” She started to yell orders to the crowd. “I want this crowd to disperse. Get to your homes. Please work with us everypony. Stay indoors for a little while and keep your children close. Please just do what I say.” I kept scanning the crowd as they started leaving. This just didn’t make sense. Something that freaky looking isn’t exactly easy to hide. I returned momentarily to looking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Dusk was pretty much the baby of the group, so it made sense they tried to protect him. However apparently he wasn’t a complete push over. As they kept holding him back from going to his sister, he finally delivered a powerful kick straight to Apple Bloom’s face, dislodging her and shocking the others. He then scrambled up to the stage and to his sister’s side. Without having one of their own to protect, the CMC split up, Sweetie running to Rarity, Apple Bloom to AJ and Scootaloo- Scootaloo just got up on stage. “Get out of here Scoots,” I yelled. “Um… momma Dash… I’m pretty sure Twi’s orders were for me to stick with my parent,” she replied. “Oh right,” I noted. I landed next to her. “Where’s Dusk!?” Lightning shouted. Her brother touched her shoulder as she started to scan the area for him. Feeling him do that, she turned and wrapped him in a hug, starting to scan the area again. I myself started scanning again. I don’t know when exactly I did it, but I also apparently shoved Scootaloo under me. Lightning fell off of Dusk, sobbing over her wing. It was like she had just remembered it was broken or something. Again, my own wing had a slight feeling of pain, remembering just what she was probably going through. Twilight started giving orders. “Rainbow, you and Fluttershy stay with Lightning and her brother. Rarity, AJ, you stay here in case that creep comes back. Pinkie, you’re the fastest of the group-“ “Hey!” I shouted. I was the fastest, I was, I so was. “Go ahead argue with me,” Twilight said. She sounded so confident. I was faster than Pinkie, I knew it. Pinkie has only had a few flukes, she couldn’t travel like me. I was about to argue, when I looked over at Pinkie. She was livid. I could easily tell she was more than ready to kill that creature. I then looked at Scoots. Did I really want to stop Pinkie and leave my daughter? I still gave Pinkie a look of irritation, her just shrugging at me. Twilight continued. “What I thought,” I still knew she was wrong in my own head. “Pinkie, you search the town. Whatever that was should be easy to spot with just a glance.” Yea, you’d think so… “Okey dokie loki!” Pinkie said and shot away in a blur of shades of Pinkie. Pinkie’s little good bye motto sounded different than usual, but I didn’t pay it too much mind. Twilight seemed to want to stop her to say something else, but Pinkie had already left. I wish I could say that leaving without giving ponies time to talk was unusual for Pinkie, but she was a mare after my own heart. Neither one of us were known for our patience. “I was gonna tell her to careful, but let’s face it, if someone actually manages to hurt Pinkie… I’ll be rather surprised.” Pinkie… hurt? “I’ll be pissed,” I quickly corrected. “You should go home Vinyl, I’m sorry your concert was ruined.” Twi continued. However Vinyl shook her head in refusal. “Excuse me?” Vinyl Scratch was actually mute, so to “speak” to us she actually had to use a handy notepad. ‘Remember our meeting with Lightning’s father? I’m her legal guardian while she’s in Ponyville.’ She wrote. “Can you defend yourself?” asked Twilight back. ‘I am a unicorn after all. I think I can manage against a pegasus.’ Okay that was going too far, no matter what the circumstances. “You trying to say something?” my pegasus pride forced me to say. “Please not now Rainbow.” Twi said with a sigh. I rolled my eyes, but stepped backwards a little. We so weren’t done after that comment, but I supposed there could easily be better times. “Stay on guard and stay together.” Fluttershy started to examine young Lightning’s wing. Lightning started to hiss and cry… kinda the same way I did when Twilight examined my wing when I broke it. Course she didn’t have the same bedside manner. “Please, try to be brave little one,” said Fluttershy with her warm calming smile. (Compare that to Twilight’s “C’mon Rainbow, I know you’re tougher than that,” I guess that wasn’t so bad but Rarity’s “It doesn’t hurt that much does it?” Yes, yes it did, you twerps trying breaking your own bones!) “How is she?” Twilight said gently. I sighed inwardly. Yes, I know Twilight has grown a lot over the years, and I’m a full groan mare and Lightning was just a kid, but still… where was that kind of sympathy for me? “She’s not in immediate danger, but I think it would be best if we get her to the clinic. Her wing is broken.” Lightning let out a small whimper. “Oh don’t worry, it should heal with proper attention, you’ll be flying again in no time. Like I said, just be brave.” Lightning looked back at her wing whimpering again. “I know it hurts.” I knew it too, I started to walk over to her. My own bedside manner wasn’t always terrible. I smiled gently and heard Fluttershy’s next line. “It’s like someone twisted it until several of the smaller bones got… let’s just say it should be looked at.” Suddenly in my eyes Lightning’s body seem to transform slightly to look more like Scootaloo’s. My imagination then played what happened to Lightning happening to Scootaloo. My expression sharply changed and I started to shake with rage. Lightning almost jumped back from me and Scootaloo tugged at my leg. What was going on with my head? My thoughts kept going to Scoots, why? “Any idea what in the Sam hell that was?” Apple Jack asked. “Library?” I asked, Twilight’s answer to every question really. “Someone has to see if anything like that has been seen before.” Twi said with a nod. “Rainbow, if there’s trouble, you come get me.” “What!?” I demanded. “Fluttershy can get you, but I should fight. My daughter Scootaloo is here and-“ actually Twilight didn’t really interrupt me. It’s just, there was that name again. Why? Scootaloo wasn’t in danger so far as I knew so why did I keep worrying about her? My mind just kept replaying the thought of someone breaking one of her wings. This wasn’t a matter of pride, I couldn’t leave Scootaloo alone if that thing attacked. “And you can get me in seconds as opposed to Fluttershy’s minute and a half,” Twi pointed out. She had a point. “Fine,” I said, not sure if I meant it. Twilight flew away. Fluttershy and Vinyl started to carry Lightning as a bit of a team effort, Fluttershy gliding slowly with the filly on her back while Vinyl kept her wing steady. (All my whining being said, actually back when I broke my wing, Twilight and Rarity had carried me to the hospital in much the same way. Pinkie was there too, but she was kind of freaking out.) As we moved forward, Vinyl kept trying to nod at Lightning for some reason. I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to do, and I guessed she couldn’t write and hold the filly’s wing at the same time. I shrugged, if it was urgent, Vinyl would have found a way to “speak” her mind. Course looking at the six of us, I found myself doing just that. “So… if we really are attacked…” I looked down at Scootaloo hovering over Dusk, like if anything happened she would somehow be able to protect her littlest friend. I moved casually to Fluttershy’s ear and then whispered in it. “Like I was saying, IF we’re attacked, that creep will have his pick of kids to use as a hostages. Two disabled pegasi, one injured and a six year old colt. Not to mention I doubt Vinyl knows much about fighting.” “That is why we’re here Rainbow.” Fluttershy replied, keeping it down. “I know that, I just don’t like the odds here. I’d feel a lot better if we at least got Dusk and Scootaloo out of here. That thing was after Lightning not them. Let’s try not to give him ideas ya know?” “What about Lightning’s phobia? She’s terrified of being apart from her brother for too long, especially if there’s danger.” “Heh… think I might know a thing or two about that. Let me try something alright?” I spoke up. “Everyone please stop.” The small convoy halted. “I know Twilight told us to stick together, and I don’t like contradicting her in a case like this, but honestly I think it has to be done. There are too many kids here if that thing tries to attack again. I need to take Dusk and Scootaloo somewhere…” I pronounced my next word slowly and very audibly. “Safe. Safer than here.” Lightning’s eyes went wide. “Dusk stays with me. He’s safe with me.” She looked like she was trying to get down, but when she moved, she yelped in pain, settling back down on Fluttershy’s back. “You can’t take him away,” she started to cry. “I’m not…” wow, talk about heart breaking. She said that like I was talking about killing him. “I just want him to be safe.” I snatched up Dusk and dropped him on my back. I was about to take off and snatch up my daughter, when Lightning’s eyes found mine again. She was just so worried. No, it was not at all lost on me that her thoughts were probably similar to mine on Scootaloo. Scootaloo tugged on my leg. “She has a phobia,” she said. “You can’t just ignore that.” I wasn’t ignoring it, but I knew I was right, it was best they weren’t all together right now. Scootaloo scratched her head. “Hold on. Ya know, my therapist and Lightning’s are the same person. He did tell me that Lightning doesn’t worry too much about her brother at home with their dad.” “Well yea, their dad is a dragon,” I said. “Soooo…” Scootaloo replied. I recoiled. “You… no! I-“ the very thought of leaving my little filly with a full sized dragon- actually, he WAS a good dragon and really I wouldn’t bet much that mister messed up face would really want to challenge him. I looked at Lightning. “If… gulp” I still wasn’t sure about leaving Scootaloo with a dragon but then again… “If I took them to your father, would you be alright with that?” Lightning bit her lip. “He’s our daddy… he’ll protect Dusk,” she looked back at her wing. “I can’t move much.” She sighed. “Go… please… protect my brother…” I grabbed Scootaloo around the chest and started to fly away. The dragon’s cave was a long ways away and Twilight was going to be so pissed that I had split up the group. But that wasn’t what stuck with me as I flew. It was the pitiful look of Lightning Strike as I took off with her brother. Her plea played over and over in my mind. “Please… protect me brother.” I wondered. Just over and an hour and I would be saying much the same thing to Torkuda the Dragon when leaving Scootaloo. I even started saying it in my head. “Please… protect my daughter.”