Light in the dark
Chapter 1
Rays of sunlight crept along the ground as the sun rose up into the sky, steadily moving across the world it slowly enveloped. As it did, the rays came across a small treehouse, standing in a clearing on the otherwise tightly crowded fields of apple trees. The building had clearly been through a lot. It had several panels lying loosely on the roof, the windows seemed to be either broken or stuck and the only way to get up to the structure was a brittle piece of old wood positioned in such a way that it created a bridge from the ground up onto the balcony around the wooden building.
Inside lay a small orange filly with a purple coloured mane. The cyan dyed blanket under which she slept was moving up and down on the gentle rhythm of the pegasus' breath. She had never been one for getting up early, more one for going to bed late. This night had been no exception and thus, she was still fast asleep.
As the sun's light shone through a small window in the treehouse, it assaulted the small pegasus' eyes. Reluctantly lifting her eyelids, only to close them mere moments after to shield her eyes from the influx of bright light, Scootaloo tried to halt the urge of waking up a bit longer, eventually giving in. It was no use to try and fall asleep again on a bright day like the one she was in right now. As she got up, her mind got flooded with the thoughts of what she had planned for the day.
''I'm going with Rainbow Dash to watch her perform new tricks! She's going to show me all of them and perhaps even more! It's going to be so cool!''
Her mind was racing with thoughts and ideas. Well awake now, she quickly grabbed her helmet and scooter, which she had always kept in the same corner of the old wooden structure for years now, after which she dashed through the door, down the wooden ramp, hopped onto the board and started heading towards Ponyville.
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It didn't take much time for her to reach the outskirts of the town, but by the time Scootaloo got to Ponyville's centre the streets were already growing more crowded. Not in the mood for slowing down because of it, the purple maned filly manoeuvred through the streets with agility many ponies would admire. It wasn't long before the inevitable crash happened though; and when it did, it sent two fillies flying through the air for a brief moment.
''I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you; I was just in a hurry and...''
She stopped mid-sentence as she noticed who she had bumped into. It was a very familiar face to Scootaloo. The yellow coated filly with a red mane had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, perhaps even longer. She waited a few seconds until the small earthpony recovered from the impact before continuing her talk.
''Oh, umm... Hey there, Applebloom. Sorry for crashing into you like that... anyway... umm... I'm kind of in a hurry to meet Rainbow Dash and umm... I don't really want to be late so I-''
''That sounds mightily interestin', Scootaloo, but umm... Ah should probably start headin' home, because... Ah just came here ta do some shoppin'. They're probably wonderin' where Ah am right now back home. Ah promised them Ah'd be back soon.''
''Okay then, Applebloom. I'll umm... catch you later then... I guess.''
And with that said, the orange filly jumped back onto her scooter and made way for the edge of the town. She quickly set her thoughts back on what she had planned earlier. She imagined a certain cyan coloured pegasus would probably be waiting for her by now. Her awkward chat with Applebloom had taken up some of her time, more than she would've liked. She couldn't afford any other holdups now. She didn't want to show up late in front of the pony she admired and idolized.
''I should probably speed up the pace a bit if I want to be on time.''
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''Now where is she? Why is she taking so long to get here? I specifically mentioned the time at which I would be able to be here. Usually, when we've planned something, she's early. Maybe something happened to her?''
The cyan coloured pegasus was lost in her own thoughts as she walked in small circles at the spot she and Scootaloo had agreed on as a meeting point earlier that week. Rainbow Dash was never a pony to worry about things a lot, but for some reason it was different with Scootaloo. She knew that the small filly looked up to her, idolized her even, but she couldn't help thinking about her in a different way. Somehow she felt responsible for the little pegasus filly.
''Just calm down, Rainbow, she will be here any moment now and then you can start practicing your new amazing tricks,'' she said to herself.
Sure enough, when she gazed off in the direction of Ponyville, an orange speck was speeding towards her. The cyan coated pegasus squeezed her eyelids closely together to focus on the orange dot in the distance, as a way of verifying her thoughts. As it got closer and closer, Rainbow Dash wondered why the filly wasn't slowing down.
''WATCH OUT! MY BRAKES AREN'T...''
Scootaloo didn't get to finish her sentence as she crashed into the rainbow maned pegasus, who was simply standing there, lost in thought, until the speeding object hit her. The sheer force of the impact was enough to send the filly flying for what must've been at least fifteen feet through the air before she landed on her helmeted head, sliding forward from the speed she'd built up earlier on, scooping up a lot of dirt along the way, thus creating a small gulch in the ground.
Rainbow Dash had been knocked to the ground by the impact. She remained dazed for a few seconds as she tried to get up and fathom what in Equestria just happened. As she looked around, she noticed Scootaloo waddling around a few feet away from her, clearly still dazed from the crash.
''Scoot, are you alright?''
Rainbow's voice sounded muffled to Scootaloo, it was hard for her to put the sounds which were emitted from the other pegasus' muzzle together in order to create words, as her brain was struggling to return to normal after the impact. The small filly was having trouble standing up straight. Every time she took a step, she would come close to tumbling again. She gazed around for a few seconds, trying to make out the shapes of her environment through her blurred vision.
''Can you hear me?''
Scootaloo shook her head a few times as she tried to regain her normal senses, looking at Rainbow Dash with a sheepish gaze in the process. Then, as she realized what had happened moments before, the edges of her lips slowly curled upwards, forming a smile on the filly's face.
''That was... SO COOL! You should've seen me Rainbow Dash I was going so fast but my brakes weren't working and I couldn't stop anymore and I crashed into you and I must've flown through the air for like five seconds and then I landed...''
Scootaloo had to put a pause to her story in order to breathe, after which she continued the tale at lightning speed.
''And then I landed head first but I had my helmet on so I was fine but I couldn't walk straight for like twenty seconds and you should've seen the look on your face as you were talking to me and...''
''Whoa, Scoots, slow down for a moment will you?'' Rainbow Dash interrupted. ''I was right here; I saw it happen as well. Why weren't your brakes working then?''
''I don't know, maybe it's because I bumped into Applebloom earlier today, oh, that's what I wanted to tell you, I was late because I was going through town super-fast but then I couldn't avoid her and I crashed into her and that slowed me down a lot so I quickly jumped back because I had to hurry up after that because I didn't want to be late.''
All the high speed talking had taken its toll on the orange filly's breathing, causing it to change rhythm every few seconds, making for a strange mix of slow and fast inhaling and exhaling most ponies would deem unhealthy. Scootaloo then took another large breath before rounding up her story to Rainbow Dash.
''And that's why I was late.''
Rainbow Dash stood still for a moment as she tried to replay everything the orange pegasus had just said, in her mind, at a more reasonable speed. She then smiled down at the small filly, bringing her hoof up to Scootaloo's head and ruffling her mane with it.
''Well that explains it. I was starting to think you had forgotten about our little scheduled trip.''
''I would never forget something as cool as this, Rainbow Dash, I can't wait for you to show your new tricks, I just know it's going to be super cool!''
''It sure will be! You'll be amazed when you see what I've been practicing the past few days!''
''What new tricks have you been practicing then?''
''You'll see when we get to the clearing, just be patient for a change,'' Rainbow said with a mysterious grin on her face as she looked at the filly.
''Aww come on, can't you just tell me now? I promise I won't tell the others about it if you want to keep it a secret?''
''That's not it at all. Just wait for now and you'll get to see it soon enough.''
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The sound of shuddering leaves could be heard, emitting from the tree which had been filled with apples a mere moment before. As the apples fell down, they were all caught in an extraordinarily placed circle of baskets at the bottom of the tree. As one would expect, the tree hadn't started moving on its own. The source of the vibrations running through the tree was an orange coated earthpony with a bright blonde mane, bringing up her hind legs to about the same height as her spine before firmly planting them into the base of the tree.
''And that's another one done. Nice goin', Applejack,'' the mare told herself. ''If ya keep this up ya will be done early today.''
With that thought in mind, she decided to speed up the pace even more, bucking the apples from each individual tree with a firm yet graceful kicking motion, catching the falling apples in the baskets she skilfully placed underneath the trees every time.
''Ah wonder where Applebloom is, Ah haven't seen her all day. When Ah got up she was gone already, without breakfast even. That ain't anythin' like her; she's normally the one with the largest appetite. Ah should probably ask her about it when Ah get ta see her.''
As she was thinking about the matter on her own, Applejack's ears suddenly twitched from a faint sound, one that could be heard not too far away.
With her curiosity sparked, the orange mare decided to move towards epicentre of the noise to find out who, or what, it was. As she walked past many rows, the amount of trees was growing thinner and thinner, until she found herself next to a clearing. The scene in front of her was something unlike anything she had expected.
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''Why did Ah lie ta Scootaloo about havin' ta get back home soon? Ah haven't got anythin' ta do, let alone gettin' home early.''
Applebloom was struggling with her own thoughts as she walked down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. Most of the time, walking in between the large trees occupying most of the space on both sides of the road gave her a feeling of peace and quiet, but somehow it had been different for the past few weeks.
''Ah guess Ah'm just worryin' about it too much. Ye, that's probably it. Ever since Scootaloo told me about it Ah've been worryin' and thinkin' a lot ta maself. Well, Ah always used ta think about her every now and then, but now it's only gotten worse.''
''Don't worry, Applebloom,'' she told herself, ''Ah'm sure ya will figure this out sometime soon. Ya just need ta let it go fer now.''
Suddenly, the yellow filly found herself standing next to a small pond, situated in a clearing between the many rows of apple trees. No ripples were disturbing the pond's surface; it caused a certain peace to emanate from the still waters. Because of the flattened surface, the pond seemed to function as an almost perfectly smooth mirror, reflecting every object in its reach with so much detail one wouldn't know it was a pond they were looking upon if they hadn't touched it.
''Wait, apple trees? Ah didn't walk that long, did Ah?''
Applebloom would often find herself ending up at this particular part of the apple farm. Often when she was lost in thought while walking back home, she would walk over to the pond, most of the time unaware of doing so. She would end up looking at her reflection in the water, talking to it as if it were another pony.
''Ah guess ya don't know the answer either, do ya?''
A pair of eyes stared back at Applebloom, giving a questioning look in return to the filly's posed question.
''Ah just don't know what ah'm supposed ta do anymore. Ah've been dying ta tell Scootaloo about all this, but whenever Ah come across her, Ah make some lame excuse and run off. Ah'm afraid of tellin' her Ah guess.''
''Have ya ever had a similar problem?'' she asked the reflection in the water once more. It would, of course, remain silent, merely gazing back at the filly, mimicking every expression made.
''Ah guess ya have, in a way,'' she said jokingly.
''Mornin', sis. Who are ya talkin' ta?''
Needless to say, Applejack was rather surprised when there wasn't anypony but her little sister in the near surroundings.
Applebloom quickly turned around, staring into the emerald eyes of the mare who had just walked up to the pond. She tried to compose herself, quickly attempting to forge a lie to help her out of the awkward situation of having to explain to her sister why she was talking to a reflection.
''Ah... Ah was... umm... singin'. Yeah, that's what Ah was doin'.''
''Ya were singin' ta the water with yer normal speakin' voice?''
''Umm... Yes?''
''C'mon Applebloom, ah've known ya for all mah life, so ah can tell when yer lyin'. Why don't ya tell me the truth?''
The little filly was getting nervous. Applejack could tell from the way she was shifting her weight from one side to the other all the time, as well as her eyes shooting off in every possible direction. She was clearly uncomfortable about the whole situation and was desperately looking for a way out.
''Oh look at the time, ah'm afraid ah gotta go do that... thing; at the... place. Catch ya later sis!''
And with that, Applebloom dashed off through the rows of trees.
''Hey, ya won't get away with it that easily! Get back here!'' Applejack shouted at the top of her lungs as she started her pursuit on the small filly.
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*Whoosh*
...
*Whoosh*
The filly watched in awe as a rainbow coloured streak would pass by numerous times, flying at speeds beyond her imagination. With every next passing, the air was pulled into a miniature version of a gale, sometimes even stroking the filly's fur for a moment before subsiding; as if it went to lie in wait for the next fly-by.
*Whoosh*
She couldn't keep her eyes off of Rainbow Dash. She never got tired of watching her fly, always envisioning flying besides her one day. Today, the cyan coloured pegasus had done almost every stunt in her repertoire, from performing backflips to showcasing corkscrews, from inducing a free fall to doing loopings, she had shown them all. Then, Scootaloo noticed Rainbow Dash slowed down a bit and turned, after which she came flying towards her, landing in front of the beaming filly.
''Are you done for today, Rainbow Dash?''
''Not quite, there's one more stunt I want to do, but I'm going to need your help for this one.''
Scootaloo couldn't believe her ears. Rainbow dash needed her help?
''Best day ever!'' She thought to herself, struggling to not shout it out loud.
Rainbow Dash lowered herself in front of the orange filly, who seemed to not really get the message just yet.
''Well, go ahead. Hop on, Scoot!''
Scootaloo stood astonished for a few moments, she would never have dreamed of getting a ride from Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus she revered, idolized, was now offering her a trip on her back. It was almost too good to be true.
''Remember how you always talked about wanting to see what Equestria looks like from above? Well, here's your chance at finding out.''
After recovering from the shock of the offer, Scootaloo happily climbed up onto the cyan coloured pegasus' back, wrapping her hooves around her neck in a tight grip to prevent falling off. Rainbow Dash then spread her wings, made a long dash to build up speed; and took off into the sky.
It was an entirely new sensation to Scootaloo. As the pegasus below her started picking up more and more speed, the wind began playing with the filly's mane, flipping it in all kinds of directions. She liked it. No, better than that. She loved it. It gave her a feeling of freedom.
''Did you ever see the forest from above?'' Rainbow Dash said to the filly on her back.
''No, I haven't. What does it look like?''
''I'll show you!'' the pegasus said; and she steered into the direction of the large forest nearby. She didn't even know why she asked the question in the first place, or why she would take the filly towards such a place; she just always seemed to have a need in the back of her mind. A need to do something adventurous.
As Rainbow Dash flew further above the woods, everything else seemed to disappear from sight. When Scootaloo looked back in the direction of Ponyville, all she could make out was the top of the town hall's roof. Being so far away from the town made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but she shrugged it off, trusting the mare who was carrying her knew what she was doing.
The sun was starting to set and as it slid further behind the horizon, its light starting to fade away from the world around the two ponies. The sky slowly turned darker with every passing minute; and it didn't take long before there were only a few rays of sunlight left.
''Let's head back, shall we?'' Rainbow Dash said to the filly sitting on her back. She figured it was getting late and the others might start worrying if they hadn't seen either of them all day.
The series of unlucky events that followed happened so fast that there was barely any time to react. As Rainbow Dash slowed down to make the turn to head back towards Ponyville, she lost a part of her altitude. It was normal to drop a bit when turning, but the additional weight from Scootaloo enhanced the sudden drop, causing them to get awfully close to the treetops below. As she tried to regain height through flapping her wings more frequently and lengthier, an unexpected, heavy gust of wind caught her off guard and pushed her left wing inwards. With the orange filly sitting on her back, it had nowhere to bend to.
A horrifying snap resounded through the sky. A scream followed;
so loud that the pain the pegasus bringing it forth was in was unmistakable.
The sound of branches snapping after colliding with a falling object.
A deathly silence befalling the forest after the impact with solid ground.
The sun setting, blacking out the last beams of light from the sky.
And noone knew where they were.