– BONUS: Original Opening (April 2012) –
With a million thanks to NorsePony, Sgt_Byrd, chrumsum and modulusshift for pre-reading <3
IT’S NOT A COLD DARK PLACE
BY LUCKY DREAMS
Chapter One
Hush Now, Quiet Now
In which a monster talks to Scootaloo in a nightmare — An impossible wish — The doorway of light —
Standing above an ocean of glass — The unexpected pegasus — Lost between the sea and the stars
It was a stuffy night in June, and in a little house on the edge of Ponyville, a pegasus filly had her ear to her parents’ door. Cold sweat dripped down her forehead. On the other side of the door, Mom and Dad were locked in a heated argument.
“What about Scootaloo?” said Mom.
“What about her?” her father replied venomously, making the filly quiver. Mom laughed coldly.
“Well, you’re not taking her with you, that’s for darn sure! She’s staying here in Ponyville.”
“Scootaloo’s a pegasus,” said Dad. “Pegasi belong in the sky. She’s coming to Cloudsdale, and no Earth pony like you is going to stop me from taking her.”
“So you’re interested in her all of a sudden, huh?” Mom spat. “Just like you were interested when you arranged her birthday party last year—oh wait, that was me, wasn’t it? Or like how you were interested when she was in the talent show—ah, but you didn’t even bother to show up, did you?!”
“You’re one to talk, always out of town, always dumping her on Rainbow Clash.”
It’s Rainbow Dash, thought Scootaloo, a prickle of anger mixing with her anxiety; Dad couldn’t even be bothered to get her hero’s name correct, yet he wanted to drag her halfway across the country? She shuddered. She already had enough to worry about, thank you very much, without the threat that everypony who mattered to her would suddenly be missing from her life.
But before the fear could properly take hold, the voices stopped; Scootaloo realised that one of her parents was about to storm out of the room. Panic gripped her. She tried to run but tripped up, smacking her head against the wooden floorboards (though it wasn’t as painful as listening to her parents argue, nonetheless she yelped from shock). With a sickening lurch in her chest, she lifted herself off the floor just in time to see the door burst open.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t mean to listen, I...”
Her voice died, for where there ought to have been her parents’ familiar bed, the tattered rug on the floor and the hand-me-down furniture, there was nothing but darkness. Mom and Dad were nowhere to be seen.
She was alone.
“Hello?” she asked, taking a tentative step towards the room where twenty seconds beforehoof her parents had been arguing fiercely. Was this a joke? Had they known she’d been eavesdropping, and were trying to teach her some strange sort of lesson? “Hello?” she said again, more forcefully this time.
Almost immediately she wished she had kept her little mouth shut, for the voice which responded didn’t belong to her mother or father; in fact it was like none she’d ever heard, and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. It was a voice like listening to rusty nails being dragged across a sheet of steel.
“Come closer, Scootaloo,” it said. “There’s a good filly.”
Scootaloo froze in her tracks. “Who’s that?” she whispered. She didn’t even dare to blink.
“You’ve forgotten so soon?” rasped the voice. “But we’ve been meeting so often these past few days! I thought we were becoming thick as thieves.”
“Where’s Mom and Dad?”
“Who?”
Scootaloo stamped a hoof. “What have you done with my parents?”
“I haven’t done a thing,” the voice protested, a distinct tone of impatience present. “Even if I did, surely you’re not suggesting that you’d miss them? The way they’ve been behaving these past few months, like nasty foals, always whining, always fighting, never able to get along... you were on the verge of tears not two minutes ago because of their arguing. Surely you concede your life would be better off without them?”
Though Scootaloo had never heard the word ‘concede’, its meaning was plain enough. Her eyes continued to water, more from fear now rather than the dull pain throbbing in her forehead. In the darkness, she could hear something enormous, as though the owner of the voice was prowling back and forth in a tight circle.
“Sh-show yourself,” said Scootaloo more bravely than she felt. The creature chucked.
“With pleasure, Scootaloo. With pleasure.”
Scootaloo screamed, because in the doorway a pair of eyes appeared, the most terrible eyes she had seen in her life. They were huge and they glowed pure white, illuminating sharp, pointy teeth set in a mouth big enough to swallow a grown pony whole. The filly stood there petrified as the monster bounded towards her, its massive tongue drooling, its breath stinking and its eyes narrowing...
Rainbow Dash burst into the bedroom to find the orange filly tossing and turning and screaming. “Scootaloo,” Rainbow cried. She sat on the bed to try and shake the sleeping pegasus awake. “Scoots, wake up!”
Scootaloo woke up with a start. She was waiting for those awful teeth to sink into her flesh and for claws to rip her limb from limb; she didn’t question why she was suddenly bathed in lantern light or why she was lying underneath a blanket. “Get away, get away,” she shouted deliriously, kicking the blanket aside and accidently getting Rainbow Dash square in the face.
“Ouch,” Rainbow yelled. “Watch where you’re kicking!”
The cry of pain finally brought Scootaloo back to reality. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she took in her new surroundings. Plastering the walls were her Wonderbolts posters, alongside photos of her and her friends. Her scooter was propped up by the door, and next to the bed, sitting in the light of the lantern, there was a pile of all the Daring Do novels she owned, including a few that Rainbow had lent to her.
“Ya ever tried getting a cutie mark in bucking for apples?” said Rainbow, holding her nose. Scootaloo saw that it was bleeding.
... She was in Rainbow’s cloud house. Everything was fine. She was with Rainbow Dash, and everything was going to be fine.
“Sorry,” she whispered sheepishly, bowing her head from embarrassment. Rainbow Dash, however, grabbed a tissue from a box on the bedside desk, and instead of using it for her own bleeding, she wiped Scootaloo’s forehead clean. The filly blushed as she realised that she was drenched in sweat.
“Same dream again?” asked Rainbow. Scootaloo could tell that the mare was trying her level best to keep her voice steady.
“They’re getting worse,” Scootaloo whispered after a pause. “It tried to eat me this time.”
“It did what?”
Despite how sleepy and anxious she felt, Scootaloo grinned (it was less what Rainbow Dash said than it was the sense that there was nothing the older pegasus wanted more than to give the imaginary monster a piece of her mind). Rainbow forced herself to take a calming breath. “Chin up, Scoots,” she said. “So your dreams have been super lame this week; it’s no biggie. They’ll go away.”
Scootaloo sighed. “I hope so.”
It was an understatement. This past week, this bed had been her home, this room her fortress, and Scootaloo stared at the blanket, lost in tired, hazy thoughts. Monsters in dreams were one thing, but Rainbow was right: dreams passed. The pain of Mom and Dad’s separation wouldn’t. The memories of them arguing would never go away, not in a year, not in ten, and Scootaloo was standing in the middle of an endless plain, black sky above her head and tough, dark grass beneath her hooves. Thank Celestia for Rainbow Dash. If this room was her sanctuary from the outside world, then the older pegasus was the only other pony who was allowed to enter.
Her Rainbow Dash... the one adult she could always depend upon...
Without thinking, Scootaloo threw her forelegs around the startled pegasus, but almost immediately she let go. “Sorry,” she mumbled, her cheeks burning. “Um... please don’t tell anypony I did that...”
Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder. “Ya mean don’t tell anypony that even the most awesome filly in Ponyville needs a little help sometimes? If ya ask me, that’s what it sounds like you're asking there.”
Behind Rainbow’s eyes, Scootaloo could see pity and love, clear as the colours in the mare’s mane... and suddenly, it was too much to bear: her nightmares, her worries, the memory of her parents’ last fight constantly plaguing her. It had been a week since it had happened. Dad had said he’d had enough, and that the next time he went to Cloudsdale (where he’d been working five days a week for the past four years), he was going to initiate divorce proceedings; then he had stormed out of the house. The following day, Mom was called away for two weeks on yet another urgent business trip, leaving Scootaloo in Rainbow’s loving hooves once more.
Though she tried to stop herself, she couldn’t help but sniffle. Her sniffles turned into full on crying; no longer caring about embarrassing herself in front of her idol, she pressed her face into Rainbow’s coat. Scootaloo allowed the older pegasus to wrap her forelegs around her, making the filly feel, for a brief shining moment, that all the terrible things in the world couldn’t harm her anymore. This was why she loved Rainbow Dash: not because of her flying, her funny pranks or her bravery (awesome though those things were), but because she was the only pony in all of Ponyville who made her feel safe.
She made her feel loved.
After a while, Scootaloo lifted up her head, smiling weakly as Rainbow Dash wiped away her tears. “Rainbow, could, um... could you stay here tonight?” she asked with a gulp, before adding hurriedly, “You can have the bed, I mean. I just want you to be in the same room... I’ll sleep on the floor! I don’t mind. I really don’t mi—”
Before she could say another word, Rainbow leant forward and planted a kiss on Scootaloo’s forehead. Then, standing up, she put the filly’s head back on the pillow and she tucked in the sheets. “Sorry kiddo,” she said gently. “No floor’s good enough for you, so it’s the bed or bust. Listen. I’m down the hallway. If ya need me, even if ya think it’s for something reeeally small, just shout out and I’ll be here in a flash.”
"You mean it?"
“I really mean it. Pinkie promise.” Before leaving, Rainbow opened the window to let in a refreshing summer breeze. “You felt pretty hot to me then,” she said. She eyed the pile of Daring Do novels next to the bed and smiled as an idea came to her. Running a hoof down the spines, she carefully pulled out one of the books and put it within easy reach on the bedside desk. “There ya go. ‘Daring Do and the Crown of Ice.’ If ya wake up and you’re feeling hot, five minutes of that and it’ll cool you right back down again! Oh, and Scoots...”
Scootaloo perked up, a shiver of excitement shooting up her spine; maybe the mare had changed her mind about sleeping in the same room as her. “Y-yeah?”
Rainbow Dash winked. “I bet your mom wishes you sweet dreams, am I right? I’m gonna go one hoof further and wish ya awesome ones! Sleep tight, Scoots. Things’ll look better in the morning.”
Rainbow shut the door behind her as she left, leaving Scootaloo sitting up in the gentle light of her lamp (it was a testament to how often her parents were absent, but half the stuff in Rainbow’s supposed ‘guest’ room belonged to the little filly, from the lamp on the desk, to the clothes in the wardrobe and to the posters on the walls). Tearing her eyes from the door, she switched off the light and shut her eyes.
“Sleep tight, Scoots,” she whispered to herself. Yet, now she was alone again, all her worries marched back one by one to haunt her: the breakup, Mom’s business trips, the possibility of being dragged to Cloudsdale. She was about to call out for Rainbow but stopped herself at the last second. Her hero wanted her to be brave. What she needed was something to take her mind off things.
Then it came to her, a wonderful, wonderful idea, an impossible wish which would have solved every last one of her problems. She knew the thought wasn’t healthy, but then again, what was the harm in dreaming when it made her so happy? Scootaloo smiled. She whispered the thought out loud, trying to fool herself into thinking it could become true.
“I wish Rainbow Dash was my sister.”
With that, she turned over in bed and slowly drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Rainbow was concerned that Scootaloo was spending too much time locked in the guest bedroom, which is why, on a dull, overcast day, the filly found herself in her and her friends’ clubhouse deep in the woods. Usually, this would have been enough to cheer her up, yet this past week the world had been flipped on its head; thinking her parents might split up and knowing that they would were two very different things.
... As much as she loved her two best friends, Scootaloo wanted to be alone.
“We ain’t seen ya for days,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya gotta quit moping!”
Scootaloo scowled. Today, something about the sound of the Earth pony’s voice irritated her. “Shut it,” the pegasus hissed. “My parents are splitting up. I’m allowed to mope.”
Apple Bloom looked like she had been kicked in the face; good, thought Scootaloo. She didn’t see any reason why she should be the only one feeling miserable. “Hay,” Apple Bloom snapped. “At least ya got parents to mope over, you ungrateful—”
Sweetie Belle swiftly placed herself between the two arguing ponies. “Apple Bloom just meant we’re worried about you, that’s all,” she said, each word she spoke drenched in concern. “We miss you, Scootaloo. You haven’t been the same lately...”
Scootaloo wasn’t sure what woke her up: either the memory of Sweetie Belle’s voice from earlier that day or else the horrid sensation in her tummy, as though her insides had transformed into sickly, gloopy slime. She sat up, feeling like there was something she had forgotten to do, something important; yet it was no use pretending she didn’t know what was bothering her. Holding her head in her hooves, she remembered shoving Sweetie Belle aside, kicking open the clubhouse door and then running back to Rainbow’s before her two friends could catch up with her.
“They’ll say sorry,” she said, trying to convince herself that it was her friends who were in the wrong. Her parents were always fighting, were they not? So of course she was going to be moody at times! What did Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom expect? They didn’t know what it was like.
The sickly feeling in her chest deepened, making her almost retch. Kinda goes without saying Apple Bloom doesn’t know what it’s like, Scoots, whispered a guilty voice at the back of her mind. You know, seeing as she doesn’t have parents and all.
Scootaloo felt she had awoken from one bad dream straight into another. She stuffed her face into her pillow and groaned loudly.
After a while, and in the dim light of something glowing underneath the bed, she glanced at her clock; it was twenty to twelve, not even midnight. It had been less than an hour since Rainbow Dash had shaken her awake from her nightmare. With a sigh, Scootaloo rolled over onto the cold side of the pillow and closed her eyes, imagining that abysmal creatures were watching her in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Let them, she thought. It couldn’t have been a worse fate than losing her friends and being forced to move to Cloudsdale.
Opening her eyes again, she discovered that the light had grown brighter, as though somepony was storing a box of stars beneath the bed... then the gears of her mind finally clicked into place. She shot right up, all sleepiness banished in an instant.
There was something underneath the bed.
It was glowing.
“... Rainbow?” she called out. “Hello?”
But there was no answer, and it was no wonder: the bedroom door had vanished! Cold horror flooded through her body, and her mouth dropped open as she stared at the space where the door ought to have been; but it was just cloud there, now. Only the fear of what lurked under the bed kept her from dashing across the floor and banging her hooves upon this newly formed wall.
“RAINBOW!”
Her bed was an island; she was trapped. Her heart pounded against her chest as she saw that the window had disappeared as well, replaced by another wall of cloud.
“RAINBOW DASH! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
Whatever was beneath the bed was now shining so brightly that the whole room was lit up, and the strange position of the light made every shadow seem frightening and unfamiliar. Scootaloo stood up on the mattress. On her honour as Rainbow Dash’s biggest fan, there was no excuse not to be brave and take a look at what was causing this.
Lying flat on her belly, she slowly, slowly stuck her head over the side of the bed to peer underneath.
She gasped.
The thing which was glowing... it looked like a snake, except it didn’t have a face so it was hard to tell which end was which. It was long and thin, and made of soft green light the colour of mint. It slithered across the cloudy floor—right under Scootaloo’s astonished face—and darted up the wall.
“Rainbow Dash! I need you!”
But there was still no answer, aside from the deep note that suddenly began to thrum in her ears. It was a noise so loud and so powerful that she felt it was assaulting her, trying to shake her off the bed; not even covering her ears was enough to block it out. The pile of Daring Do novels collapsed. The furniture shook. It sounded like the world was ending, and her scream was completely drowned out.
More snakes of light started to appear (or perhaps a better way to describe them, she suddenly thought, was like Pinkie Pie’s party ribbons enchanted to life). They poured out from beneath the bed and from under the wardrobe, and even from behind her Wonderbolts posters; there so many that after a few seconds, they became impossible to count. They swarmed on the same wall as the first one, and they were all the exact same shade of minty green; they reminded Scootaloo of a picture she had seen in the library, something Twilight had called the Northern Lights. Once they’d all gathered there, they spun around in a great circle like a school of fish.
The note grew ever deeper, churning up Scootaloo’s belly and making her want to throw up. There had only been one other time in her life that she had felt like this: when she’d been desperately sick, and lying on a makeshift bed Rainbow Dash had made on the couch. She remembered it all too well. Rainbow had had to keep replacing her sick bowl.
Scootaloo hoped to Celestia that she wasn’t about to throw up.
The ribbons of light began to join together, jigsaw like, piece by glowing piece; every time a pair of them collided, there was a clashing sound like a set of cymbals. They began to form patterns so monstrously complicated that when Scootaloo tried to focus on them, they made her more nauseous than ever; she had to squint her eyes to carry on looking. Every fibre of her being shrieked at her to dive under the blanket, shut her eyes, cover her ears and pretend this wasn’t happening! But she was hypnotized. If she tore her gaze away now, she was absolutely certain that she would regret it until her dying day.
Keep on looking, hissed a voice in her head. Don’t miss a thing.
Her patience was rewarded: soon afterwards, the lights formed a rectangular archway which stretched from floor to ceiling. She watched, awe-struck, as the wall of cloud inside of the archway thickened and hardened until it resembled white marble. In the centre, a handle shimmered into existence; it was made of pure gold, and it glistened in the pale green light of the archway.
The deep note ceased.
... It was over.
Scootaloo stared at the wondrous sight as though nothing else mattered anymore, not her parents, her friends, and not even Rainbow Dash. All that mattered was that, with the note silenced and the doorway shining in front of her, she didn’t feel sick anymore, but instead... light. It was the same feeling she got when Rainbow Dash took her in her hooves and flew her up to the cloud house.
"... Sweet Celestia..." she mouthed.
Then she shivered and hugged herself, for although it was a balmy summer’s night, the bedroom felt brutally cold all of a sudden. Her breath misted in front of her face. On the floor, the pages of an open Daring Do novel flipped open, caught in a draft coming from the edges of the marble doorway.
Scootaloo gulped. She had the dim sense that the archway was calling to her, so quietly that she forced herself to hold her breath, afraid that she might accidently drown out the sound of the voice. Scootaloo, the archway whispered (whether the voice belonged to a mare or a stallion was impossible to tell). Come closer, Scootaloo. We’re waiting for you...
Scootaloo slipped out of bed hesitantly, a million thoughts racing through her head; suppose this was all a dream? Until now the possibility hadn’t occurred to her (sheer awe had seen to that), yet now that it had... it made sense, right? The way the window had disappeared, the fact that the doorway had been replaced with this astounding archway... the more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that this was no more than simply another intense nightmare. No doubt her real self was tossing and turning in bed; in a minute, she fully expected to be greeted by Rainbow Dash’s worried face as the mare woke her up.
Scootaloo stopped halfway between the bed and the archway. “Wake up,” she commanded herself. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!”
But she didn’t. All the while another worrisome thought prodded her, refusing to leave her alone: this didn’t feel like a dream. To be sure, dreams never did, but overwhelming instinct told Scootaloo that this was actually happening, and that she wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon.
“Rainbow Dash,” she called out again, but quietly. If the mare was going to respond, surely she would’ve done so by now.
The archway was eager to provide an explanation. Rainbow Dash is already here, it said. She’s waiting for you. She’d be ever so disappointed if you didn’t turn up.
“That’s not true,” said Scootaloo, glaring at the archway. “She’s too awesome to sneak off without telling me first.”
Come and see for yourself.
A gust of wind made Scootaloo cry out in surprise; it had come from behind her, blowing towards the archway instead of from it. The marble door opened a little, inviting her to take a peek at what lay beyond; if she didn’t like what she saw, then she was free to go back to bed, go to sleep and pretend this wasn’t happening: the choice was hers.
Deep down, Scootaloo knew she couldn’t deceive herself with these thoughts. Her knees buckled. She knelt on the floor, a mountainous weight pressing down on her chest, robbing her of breath; from nowhere, a memory of the previous year came back to her...
It was a hot summer’s day, and she, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had decided they would perform in the local talent show. That night, at Rainbow Dash’s, Scootaloo explained breathlessly about how awesome their act was going to be, and about what their cutie marks would be like (because make no mistake, this show would be where they would finally earn them). “And there’ll be lots and lots of lights, and I’m gonna be the main singer, and—"
“Whoa, slow down,” said Rainbow Dash, looking surprised with herself that the phrase ‘slow down’ could ever escape her lips. “Have you got all this planned out?”
Scootaloo snorted. "It’ll be fine. Relax, Dash!”
Rainbow didn’t look so convinced. “I'm just thinking, Scoots. For something like this... well...”
The smile slid from Scootaloo’s face as Rainbow Dash stared at her thoughtfully. “What about it?” she asked. The mare grinned.
“It’s just that Twi’s always going on about planning and, ya know, egghead stuff like that. This show’s gotta be super wicked awesome! Make sure you’re prepared, is all I’m saying.”
Rainbow Dash winked at her.
... Then Scootaloo came back to herself, still kneeling down on the floor, the archway towering above her. Now that she had had a second to think, rightly or wrongly, there were four things she was certain about.
Firstly, this wasn’t a dream.
Secondly, whether she had been foalnapped or tricked, Rainbow Dash was trapped behind the archway and needed help.
Thirdly, she, Scootaloo, was the only one who could give her that help.
And lastly, for as tempting as it was, rushing through the doorway without preparing beforehoof was an amazingly bad idea. Make sure you’re prepared...
Scootaloo racked her mind. Planning ahead had never been her strong suit; indeed, she was already half considering charging through the archway with nothing but the wings on her back and with courage in her heart. “Think, Scootaloo,” she said, tapping her forehead. “Rainbow needs you. Thiiink.”
As her breath misted from the inexplicable coolness, a thought came to her: wherever she was heading was obviously remarkably cold, so she would have to wrap up warm. Rummaging around in her wardrobe, she found a woolly hat given to her by Rainbow Dash for Hearth’s Warming Eve, and she also uncovered some fluffy pink hoofboots from Mom. The hat put a smile on her face but the boots summoned the faint taste of vomit back to her mouth; but what choice did she have? Though she didn’t care one jot about fashion, even so, she was glad nopony was around to see her put on the boots.
Something gleamed at the back of the wardrobe: the scarlet, gold-lined cape Sweetie Belle had made for her. A pang of guilt pricked Scootaloo, because what she wouldn’t have given to have her two best friends right there by her side... how could she have treated them so badly? “It’s not your fault,” she reminded herself. “They’re the ones who need to say sorry, not you. ”
All the same, Scootaloo fished out the cape, thankful for the way it distracted from her awful boots. As an afterthought, she also strapped on her Wonderbolts satchel—another present from Rainbow Dash—and in it she placed a framed photo of herself, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle (she had to retrieve it from where, in anger, she had hurled it to the floor earlier that evening). She also grabbed her copy of ‘Daring Do and the Crown of Ice’, because who knew how long this adventure might last? Was it unreasonable to assume she might, at some point, find herself wishing that she’d brought a book?
Scootaloo beamed, proud of how massively, enormously organized she was being. Twilight Sparkle, eat your heart out, she thought.
She looked at her clock: it was midnight exactly, and never before had she felt more awake or alert.
Her heart beat furiously. Her body flooded with adrenaline.
This was it.
Scootaloo put a hoof on the marble and, imagining that Rainbow Dash was standing beside to keep her safe, pushed on it as hard as possible.
What she encountered took her breath away...
Where there should have been a corridor, she found herself gazing out over what appeared to be an endless plain of black glass. More than that, however, instead of a ceiling there was a wide open sky, over which a million stars had been sprinkled carelessly, stars the likes of which she had never seen: big ones, small ones, red ones, blue ones, yellow ones. Scootaloo wished desperately that she had somepony to share this wonder with, because how clearly she could imagine the dumbfounded look that would have been gracing Sweetie Belle’s face, and the twinkle that might have been present in Apple Bloom’s eyes.
Her breath came in shallow bursts as she peered at the space dividing this cold new world from Rainbow’s guest room. The cloudy floor extended beyond the archway for a few metres more, forming a little ledge above the glassy plain. “Chin up, Scoots. You’re brave. You can do this.”
With that, she crossed the threshold before she had a chance to talk herself out of it. And though there was nothing unusual about the cloud on the other side of the archway, the instant she touched it, electricity shot through her hooves, her legs, and danced over her body. She had walked from the safety of one world and right into another.
Scootaloo: Cutie Mark Crusader and explorer extraordinaire!
Only the thought of what Rainbow Dash would do kept her from collapsing to her knees again in a quivering heap. Be brave, she repeated to herself. Be strong. Rainbow would want you to be strong.
In time, she saw that the ledge was not actually a ledge at all, but a tiny island of cloud scarcely big enough to hold a cartload of ponies. The archway stood in the centre of it, tall and proud. Curiously, although one side of the archway led back to the bedroom, when she looked through the other side, the room was nowhere to be seen: here, the space inside of the arch was empty, as if Rainbow’s house didn’t even exist. More so than the freezing air of this mysterious world, the sight chilled her to the very core of her soul; the thought of a world without Ponyville was as dark as thoughts came.
“Rainbow dash! Where are you?”
For all the good this did, she might as well have curled up and gone to sleep: her shouting was met with profound silence. It crept its way under her skin, giving her the very definite sense that she was tiny, that the world was huge, and that it couldn’t care less what she desired no matter how loudly she cared to shout it out. If she was going to save Rainbow Dash, she would have to come up with a better plan than merely screaming the mare’s name.
But then... what was she supposed to do? The glass looked too fragile to stand on, but if she couldn’t step on the glass, where else was there to go? Scootaloo bit her lip in frustration. She sensed that the answers were right in front of her nose, laughing at her and barely of reach.
With no obvious way forward, she studied her reflection in the glass. Or was it ice? As she had done on the bed earlier, she lay on her belly and reached out her hoof to cautiously touch the glass.
Her hoof sunk into it. It was wet. It was cold.
“It’s water!” she gasped. “I’m in the ocean!”
And she was. It was an ocean so utterly calm that she’d never seen the likes of it. Not even puddles after a rainstorm were as peaceful as this.
... What was this place?
Drawing back her hoof, she crossed her forelegs, hoping against hope that a plan would drop into her head. “Rainbow Dash would know what to do,” she said, scolding herself. “She wouldn’t be wasting time like this.”
Hearing a voice—even her own—was comforting. Recently, with the breakup, Rainbow Dash had started singing her to sleep at night using a lullaby taught to her by Fluttershy (it was a great secret, because Rainbow singing something as lame as a lullaby? Please!). Right then, Scootaloo would have given the whole world and more to hear that lullaby.
So not knowing what else to do, she began to sing.
“Hush now, quiet now,
It's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now,
It's time to... go to... bed...”
Her voice trailed off as something caught her attention, a sight so immensely welcome that she was half-convinced her imagination was playing tricks on her: it was a boat! It wasn’t an ordinary boat either, for it lacked sails and it was made of... what was it made out of? As far as she could tell, the same material that caused the stars to light up at night. The most peculiar thing of all, however, wasn't that the boat was shining, but that when she looked harder, she noticed that nopony was steering it. The boat was empty.
Scootaloo shivered.
The star-boat came to a halt beside the cloud, inviting her to step aboard. The filly gaped at it. The glowing material was neither too bright nor too dim. There were beautifully intricate patterns carved both inside and the outside the hull, all of which reminded Scootaloo of waves crashing on the seashore. But it was the white puffy cushions scattered all across the floor which most caught her attention: it was a treat simply to look at them, for they made her feel gloriously sleepy... and a tiring night this had been... after everything she had been through, didn't she deserve a good night's rest?
“It’s not like there’s anywhere else to go,” she whispered. “Maybe it’s been sent here to help me.”
She already had one hoof planted on the boat when the voice made her jump. “You’re not thinking about climbing in, are you?! Star Swirl's beard! Tell me you’re smarter than that!”
Scootaloo had to flap her wings in order to steady herself, and even then she only just managed to avoid splashing in the water. Panicked, and retreating back onto the cloud, she spun her head around to see who had spoken.
She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, for she was met with a light brown coat of fur, a hat more suited to the jungle than the ocean, and a mane and a tail like Rainbow Dash’s but with all the colours sucked out. The mare had violet eyes. On her flank, she had a compass for a cutie mark.
It was Daring Do.
“Huh,” said Daring with a grin (her voice was rough like Rainbow’s, exactly how Scootaloo had always imagined it). “You look like ya seen a ghost. And to answer your questions, no, you’re not dreaming, and no, you can’t have my autograph. Don’t be so childish. What d’you think I am? A pop star?”
“I... I...”
“Aw, and she’s so articulate!” said Daring, though not unkindly. “Whilst we’re on the subject of pop stars, a bit of free advice: promise me you won’t try and get your cutie mark for singing. ‘Cos kid, I heard ya sing. Give it up. No hope. Ain’t happening.”
Scootaloo stood there on her cloud, gob-smacked, and with no idea how to respond. It wasn’t just the sudden appearance of her favourite fictional character, but also the boat the mare was standing in; it was the polar opposite of the star-boat. It was made from wood. It had a little mast with an orange flag strung at the top, and it had two black, triangular sails. A lantern hung above the bow, illuminating the word ‘VENTURE’ painted messily on either side of the hull. However, it was the inside of the boat which fascinated Scootaloo, because where there ought to have been a wooden floor with wooden benches, there was a mattress. It fitted in so snugly that it must have been poured into the hull; how else could it have been squashed in so well? A thick, navy blue blanket had a hole cut in the middle to make way for the mast, and at the front of the boat, by the lantern, there were three plump pillows.
Seeing how entranced Scootaloo was, Daring Do said: “What are you staring at? A mare's gotta sleep! And anyways, with boots like those ya can’t judge me for all of this.”
“Hay,” snapped Scootaloo. “My Mom got... I mean, these were the best I could get at short notice.”
Daring chuckled. “C’mon kid, you know I was only messing with ya. So you have a name or what?”
Daring Do, the most brilliant explorer in the world and star of both book and screen, was asking for her name. If this wasn’t a dream, it was at least as strange as one. “It’s Scootaloo,” she said. “The one and only.”
“Well, ‘the one and only,’ what are you doing on that cloud? Get in.”
It’s Daring Do, that’s all, Scootaloo thought to herself as she walked to the wooden boat. It’s Daring Do asking you to get in her boat in an ocean which shouldn’t exist. It could happen to anypony. Probably.
A wild grin spread across her face, and pure glee gushed through her chest and up to her head. She struggled to remind herself that she wasn’t here to have fun but to save Rainbow Dash; Daring Do just wanted to help.
Right?
Now Scootaloo stopped and thought about it, why was Daring Do here? Her grin faded away as quickly as it had come, and she halted in her tracks, glancing back at the star-boat. When she heard Daring Do speak again, the mare had dropped her light-hearted tone. “From where I’m standing,” she said, “that looks less like a boat and more like a spider’s web. You’d have a proper fool to get inside it.”
“... What d’you mean?”
The star-boat continued to sit on the water, inconspicuous, almost as if it was eavesdropping on the conversation. “You know what I mean,” said Daring.
Scootaloo was about to say that she hadn’t the foggiest idea what she meant. However, before she could, the memory of dreadful glowing eyes flashed in her mind, a huge mouth, a rolling tongue and teeth like knives. But the idea that the monster which haunted her dreams might in fact be real was... it was absurd!
As ridiculous a thought as Daring Do being a real pegasus...
Scootaloo shook her head; she was being stupid. Daring must have been referring to something else because the monster wasn’t real. It wasn’t real.
It couldn’t be real.
“You’re just going to stand there then, yes?” said Daring. Scootaloo didn’t move. A little voice at the back of her mind warned her not to rush into this.
“How do I know you’re gonna help me?” said Scootaloo, nerves creeping into her voice. Daring Do sighed.
“Kid, it’s either you get in my boat, get in the other boat, or you go back through the archway; that’s not off the cards ya know. When you wake up in the morning you’ll be minus your Rainbow Dash, but hay! One pony never mattered, not least one who loves you like family. Go and have a happy little time in Cloudsdale. Spend your whole life telling yourself you did everything you could to save your hero.”
There was an extremely long pause after this; to Scootaloo, it felt like an entire age of Equestria. At last she said, “You already knew my name, didn’t you? And how d’you know about Rainbow and Cloudsdale?”
The grin returned to Daring’s face. “Would you look at that? You’re not a lost cause after all... Scoots, I know you better than you know yourself, and I know for a fact that as scared as you are, if you trot your tail back through that archway without making the slightest effort to save Rainbow Dash, you will never, ever, ever forgive yourself.” Daring Do lowered her voice to a whisper. “So what’s it to be?”
Scootaloo looked at the archway in the middle of the cloud. Daring was right, she could feel it in her guts. What was to stop her from going back? There was nothing. If she wanted to, she could crawl into bed and come morning, supposing that the adventurer’s assumption was correct, the archway would be gone.
And so would Rainbow Dash.
“Aw, how sweet,” said Daring in the driest tone she could muster. “Climb aboard kiddo, I’ve got tissues.”
For a moment, Scootaloo wondered what Daring meant by this; then she noticed the tears streaming down her face. Blushing, she wiped her face and finally jumped onto the mattress, feeling as though she was sinking into the fluffiest cloud imaginable. Her knees gave way as she collapsed into comfort; she was so relieved that her tears grew larger (it was useless to hide them, though that didn't stop her from trying). Daring Do gave the side of the boat a short, sharp tap with one of her hooves. To Scootaloo’s astonishment, the sails suddenly filled with a strong wind which she couldn’t feel.
“Cool, huh?” Daring said as the magical sails carried them away from the cloud. “Hang on tight: we’ve gotta go as fast as possible. Places to go, other ponies to pick up, yadda, yadda.”
“Other ponies? You mean Rainbow Dash?”
Daring smirked. “You’ll see.”
The mare said no more after this. Scootaloo put her hooves over the side of the boat and stared at the cloud, her own little cloud which represented her last, real connection with Ponyville, her friends, her parents, her whole entire life. Her gaze also fell on the star-boat, still waiting for a passenger it would never receive. She shuddered to think how close she had come to climbing into it; who knows what would have happened to her?
The cloud was getting smaller. Smaller. Smaller.
... It was gone. Lost between the sea and the stars.
And the ocean lay before them.
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IT'S ALIVE!
*squee*
yay!
color wheels!
*TakeI* "Oh my"
1791065
Damnit. I was going to do that. I had a GIF and everything.
Screw sleep, I've got this to read!
it fakes life. it is the same story once more
1792234 Correction, he mentions the latest episode with Scootaloo in it now.
1792350 Right. It jerks and shakes, but it doesn't actually rise and move.
1791045 1792234
Yes and no to both of those, although Medicshy's closer to the mark. It's pretty much the same chapter that was online before, but this time it does a much better job of setting up the rest of the story. The next update will be actual progress. I'm working on it as we speak
1791065 Quick! Grab the torches and the pitchforks
1791990 It's not too late!
1791214
1791855
snarksquad.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ohmy.png
1791196 1792024 1791079
Whoooooo!!!!! I've been waiting on this forever!! When is the next chapter coming out?
Minor changes... sigh stilllll MOAR
I'm glad I tracked this story a while ago. I really like how you've portrayed Daring Do, giving her more than just an RD recolor personality. Even though I know its stated in the story, I still get the feeling that this is still a dream. RD did mention the Daring Do book to Scootaloo before she fell asleep, ergo the appearance of Daring Do to assist her. Though if this is reality, it would be pretty bad ass if Daring Do was a real pegasus. Your description thus far has been very enjoyable, both of how the archway appeared, the new world Scoots has stepped into, and other things like Daring's and the star boat. Its even reminded me to make sure I do the same in my own story that I'm working on right now. Looking forward to more.
This is, in all seriousness, one of the best works of fanfiction I’ve ever read. The richness of your language is captivating; the sense of mystery, wonder and adventure your tone carries holds me in awe. The dream imagery is dazzling, creative, and visceral, and yet it never overwhelms me or becomes too much. You have my kudos as well for depicting a truly heartwarming relationship between Scoots and Dash. It’s nice to see someone giving the little filly a sort of adoration that’s deeper and more meaningful than the generic hero-worship that so many other writers ascribe to her. Your characterization of Daring Do is also very interesting; she’s intriguingly but not off-puttingly abrasive, which is a difficult combination to pull off. I can’t wait to see where else you’re going to go with this.
Also, points for taking inspiration from Explosions in the Sky. In fact, this whole fic feels a lot like a really good post-rock album.
Well, it's obviously a trap, right? The question is, is it the dream-boat that's a trap, or is it Daring Do?
I laughed pretty sharply at picturing RD opening that window, snow splattering in her face giving her a santa like beard and a puffy snow hat. Then shaking it off as she looked side to side for anyone within the blizzard of all things, that could possibly be around before she began singing. I really enjoyed immersing myself into this story again. This Rainbow Dash scene addition was by far the most awesome of additions. I slept so darn well after crashing at like 2am stopping after I reached the creation of the door with the snakey white-silvery lights that amassed from the nooks and crannies of the room to the wall.
I really really really really glad you kept with the original pretty well! The less telly-showy introduction was SO awesome! The whole not knowing and making it feel more ominous and unknown was the bestest change! You still have that whole "not sure if parents are or aren't safe" feel. Unlike the original.
The end and how she woke up was more exciting, you think you know it was someone that woke her up, but still she could of been in tons of pain because she could of been pulled by claws or gripped in the jaws of some beast. Course I could be remembering the new scene wrong, meant to type this up two days ago lol some friends make it hard to find time for fics, heaven forbid I review one! ^^;
Reducing the CMC fight and turning it into another dream was interesting. I loved the original's description of what anxiety mixed with all those hurtful pangs of guilt and regrets feel like. Only one who experienced them can ever truly write about that retching feel in ones pit. The new revised scene was pretty well done and more to the focus of Scootaloo and her ever powerfully growing fears that seems to be feeding the ever living tartaurus out of that beast. The new version, while it tones down a smidgen on the depressive side, I mean damn even I was starting to feel the gut-wrenching feels there a sec, it flowed so much better. Less flashbacky and more "SCOOTS YOU'RE STILL DREAMING! WAKE UP!" which was awesome.
I am interested in what you're going to do with that White Wolf with the green eyes and Daring. I *really* enjoyed this version! Rainbow Dash got more of how I love to imagine her, opens up to those she cares and trusts most like Fluttershy, despite hating Flutters' lack of confidence they are practically inseparable, and ended up having some touching moments we didn't get in the original. It sure gave that scene with Scootaloo singing Hush Now to herself, a lot more feels.
The only thing I have to argue is that... RAINBOW DASH DOES NOT HAVE A SCRATCHY VOICE! She doesn't have the smoothest of voices but it's enough to make the average pony swoon a bit.
Lastly, now that it is being worked on, and given the changes and how well the addition of a couple things I mentioned with Daring, I was finally able to throw a favorite onto this one! LOVE THIS AWESOME STORY! /6* (that reminds me I need to go through that favorites and remove a few fics I left in there before I discovered read later lol;; thankfully it's only a few!)
Let's make it a net positive of 100! Up-vote.
1793620 Next few weeks. I'm working on it right now
1797090
I'm glad you said that. That's the effect I was trying to achieve, and it sounds like I managed it!
And thanks very much for the lovely comment
. Daring Do, or at least my interpretation of her, is really fun to write about (I don't usually bother with snarky characters so it's a nice change of pace for me). That said, her character arc was one of the main reasons this fic's taken so long -- whether or not this story works sinks or swims depending on how people react to what I have planned for her... that's to say, lot's of twists and turns right up until the very end. For the time being, I'll say this: a few people have given me theories about what's going on with her, but so far none of them have even been close to being right.
Also, good luck with your own story!
1802750 What a fantastic comment to get! And the timing of it couldn't possibly have been better (without getting too much into it, I was having a thoroughly lousy night on Saturday, but then your comment came along and made everything feel a little brighter).
Also, thanks for saying that the story feels like a good post-rock album, I appreciate that
1808460 Good questions!
1808989 I can't tell you how much I love getting huge comments like this one!
Regarding the snow, that was probably my favourite alteration as well... and regarding everything else you mentioned, well, I suddenly feel that the revision was definitely the right thing to do. And that someone remembered the original well enough to actually point out what exactly was changed makes me feel pretty good about myself. So thanks for that. After all the support you've given in the past few months in my blog posts and everything, I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!
The wolf's been a part of this fic from right near the very beginning and, without giving anything away, it's role is pretty big. It's also one of the reasons I rewrote the CMC dream sequence: originally, it would've come out of nowhere and had everypony scratching their heads, but not anymore. Not now that it's been set up properly. So watch this space!
1814336 Thanks
For months I had waited and Waited for these chapters to come back so I can read them. Months waiting and waiting and you know what? IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!!!!
1826165 I'm glad you think so!
This was on my Read Later list, then when I went to read it, it wasn't there anymore, but I was still intrigued by the blurb (plus the picture looked really cool). Anyway, well worth the wait, very different to anything I've read before!
2307937 Thank you very much! This comment made my day
.
I'm sorry about the false update by the way, I feel pretty embarrassed about it. But the good news is there'll be a real update this Friday, and then every Friday after that. Or at least that's the plan
2308045
+1n to every word of JohnPerry .
Also I should say that even if the cake is a lie for now, it is very nice too see that you are getting back to this story.
What is this? A story emerging from the deepest places of my favorites stories?
Really glad to see this continued!
Wait, why didn't I knew there was a 2nd chapter already?! In fact, the false update helped me!
2308524 Sorry bro. 'Chapter 2' is simply the second half of the original chapter 1 -- I gave the story a little facelift back in December and split it in half
But on the bright side, actual updates start again this Friday. That's how this false update happened in the first place! Well, that and plain carelessness
2308142 Thanks man!
2308552
Oh...that's why it seemed familiar...
Anyways, I'll be right here next Friday. Don't you dare not updating it in time, or I'll just have to...! ... wait, I guess. D:
That moment you get when you see a notification of something you've been genuinely excited for popping up as 'updated'...
....then seeing it has 0 words and protected by a password.
Honest mistake on your part I suppose
<-- and that's essentially how it all went in 0.2 seconds.
And no worries, the excitement followed by immense soul crushing disappointment all occurred in a single instant.
2310930 I'm so sorry! I felt like such an unbelievable klutz when I noticed what I'd done, especially after my blog post
Still, it could've been worse -- at least I realised straight-away. The chapter still needs work!
2308642 If you loved the original, then please I urge you to read the remastered version. It will BLOW you away at how much more chills, sense, cuteness, and awesomeness the redone is over the original. I should know, I did a decently detailed review on the two versions! xD
It'll really set you up for when the new chapters come out. New scene was added and others fixed up to be more coherent. This chapter remake is practically brand new and in every way imaginable better than the first telling! (no exaggerating or bias either, I was super worried it was going to change the reasons why I fell in love with it, and it really made me fall in love all over again!)
2311498 It really is ok, Lucky. I have seen that happen to a couple others. Granted those weren't stories I was following with much deep-seated interest; only 4 titles currently that I give priority to.
Take your time and properly review each chapter and make sure it follows up just right with the next one. I don't mind waiting till S4 if it means reading new chapters with the level of mastery the remake version of the first chapter has.
Course, you know, hoping it'll not be that long
Course, I keep checking my gmail for Ballad once or thousandth a day, so you know, whenever you want to release it is fine too.
Wow....this is the kind of fic I have always wanted to read and I was getting kinda worried that no one would do it!!
I was prepared to it myself but then I found this and I love it!!
Instant favorite and followed!!
2311533 Loved this comment!
2312435 Welp, I totally overlooked this comment! Thank you very much, it's very appreciated
I think I may have found an error:
"At the best of times, the most she had ever been able to do was hover a few pony lengths above the ground, and short of dying, this was as far from the best of times as was possible to be".
Your story is making a really beautiful world. Reading makes me feel dazzled and slightly dazed, just like Scootaloo is. You really get across the idea that she doesn't know if she's dream well. We don't either.
Daring seems... off. Next chapter ahoy!
I'll point out that Daring's eyes are in fact purple (more specifically, I'd be inclined to go with amethyst). Though I can see where it's more convenient if Daring's eyes are supposed to be crimson (or at least if Scoots thinks so) since that means Scoots will be inclined to identify the monster as the real Daring if it chooses to take that form.
Don't do it, Scoots, by the way. Stick with the wolf. The wolf will protect you.
Every day that you don't update this story, a star goes out.
I'm impressed by how dead this fic is.
7488071 I believe the term you're looking for is super-dead
7488937 I've seen roadkill more lively than this fic!
Do you ever wonder what this might have been?
The author has completed a “spiritual successor” to this story, entitled Emberwolf. It’s good! Check it out!