Cursed Book

by Sillyponyme

The Funeral

Later that morning, Twilight had gotten everything ready for Scootaloo’s funeral. A few tents covered the funeral area so that nopony would get drenched during the service. All that was left to do was to tell Scootaloos friends which would be the most difficult thing she would have to do. Neither of them was allowed outside when everything went down and as a result had no idea what even happened. Twilight called Applejack and Rarity and told them to send Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to meet her at Sugarcube Corner. She waited for twenty minutes before the two fillies walked in. “Hello girls, come sit.”

“Did we do something wrong Twilight?” Sweetie asked a little nervous about the two being asked for specifically.

“No girls, you didn’t do anything wrong but there is a problem. It’s about Scootaloo and it’s not good.” Sweetie and Apple Bloom became even more nervous then they already were. Twilight looked away for a moment toward the direction of the funeral and then let out a sigh. “Scootaloo…she” Twilight gave up and just came out with it. “Scootaloo died last night, I’m sorry.”

Tears formed in the two fillies eyes but before they could cry, Twilight grabbed them into a big hug. “How, why, Scoot.” Apple Bloom tried to spit out a sentence but couldn’t find the words.

Rick then came into the building but turned to leave when Twilight spoke up. “Don’t move Rick.” Rick stopped and just waited. After a few moments of hugging the two crying fillies, Twilight stood up and looked in Rick’s direction. “Follow me; this isn’t the place to talk.” Rick nodded in agreement and left as Carol walked past. “Meet me at the library Rick; I’ll be there in a moment.” Rick complied and walked off. Twilight stood there next to the doorway and listened.

“Hello girls, my name is Carol. I see you found out about your friend. I’m so sorry that this happened but if it makes you feel any better, I lost my daughter. I would say she was around your age but then again I really can’t say for sure.” Carol said with as much of a smile as she could muster.

Sweetie wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at Carol. “How long does it take for the hurt to go away?”

The one question that the filly would ask and it had to be that one; Carol didn’t have much choice here though. “The pain doesn’t go away girls, it just softens. It helps to know that you will see them again after; when it’s your time to go. I wish the pain would go but it doesn’t. Do yourselves a favor though and don’t ever forget your friend. Keep pictures around to help you remember the good times that you had. Just remember that you will see them again, it’s a gift that god has given us. I bet she’ll be doing whatever you decide to do. I hear that the three of you never do things apart and her death won’t be an exception. I can bet that if you two go searching out some giant, she’ll be there right by your side going along for the ride. True that you may not see her but you’ll feel her there. I can say that because there are those special times that I can still feel my daughter.” Carol smiled as she wrapped her hooves around the two.

“Thank you Carol, that helps but we still miss her so much.” Apple Bloom hugged Carol tighter.

“You will, I still miss my daughter. It will become easier though, really it will.” Carol hugged the two fillies tighter.

Twilight smiled at the sight before she left to go talk with Rick. She arrived at the library and found Rick holding onto his daughter. Twilight let out a sigh and then walked over to him. “Rick, I’m not even sure what to say to you.”

“I know what she did was wrong and it wasn’t her call to make. I also know that you’ll be angry with me when I say that she wasn’t completely wrong. She said that if we don’t do something, this world will die. Andrea is right about that and we don’t want to see that happen. I know that you want us gone and you have every right to send us back but let us help you take care of this before it becomes an epidemic that you can’t control. You have no reasons to trust us even more now then before but I ask you to help us help you. Give us our weapons and we will stop this or at least keep the walkers at bay.” Rick asked calmly and could tell that Twilight was thinking hard.

Without warning, Twilight teleported away and came back with the groups arsenal of weapons. “Truth is Rick; I can’t in good conscience send you and your whole group back to your world. Something you and Andrea said last night kept my promise to send Andrea back and almost makes me want to send you back with her. ‘What are you doing, don’t be Shane’ I have no idea who Shane was but if she acted anything like him, then I want her gone. Then there is something that she said. ‘You know this has to happen Rick.’ I could see that you agreed with her. That alone made me want to send you back with her and then what you said next changed my mind. ‘That’s not your call Andrea; don’t make me have to kill you like I did Shane.’ Despite what you believed you should do you fought to make sure you didn’t overstep your boundaries. You are what your Cutie Mark says Rick, you obey the law even if it is for the sake of your own safety. That got me thinking but even so regardless the reason, you tried to keep her safe. Tell me something though, before I make a final decision on what to do. Tell me about this Shane you two spoke of.”

“Shane was my best friend but when the apocalypse started, he became less of one. I got separated from my wife, she thought I was dead because Shane thought I was and he was the last one with me. I had been shot and ended up in the hospital. I woke up to all of it and had no clue what was going on. Anyway, Shane became dangerous. He didn’t have any feeling left. He didn’t think that I could protect anyone especially my family. He tried to kill me a time or two. The last time that I was with him, he pointed a gun at me. I was able to get close to him and stab him in the heart. We would have lost more then we have if Shane had won that little fight. If anyone got separated, got stuck somewhere and needed help; they were as good as dead, they weren’t worth saving. It would have been worth everything if it had been my wife or my son though. He would have gone in a heartbeat. Truth is; he didn’t care about anyone’s feelings except his own. My group tells me that we only made it this far because of me.” Rick stopped talking and let Twilight make her decision.

Twilight thought about it and then nodded. “He sounds like, to put it nicely, a real donkey.” The two chuckled.

“That is definitely putting it nicely which he doesn’t deserve.” Rick chuckled as guard came into the room.

“Princess, the funeral is ready.” Twilight thanked the guard and told Rick to follow. The two made their way to the cemetery with the guard right behind. Twilight walked up to the podium and took in a deep breath. In the front sat Celestia and Luna as well as friends and so on.

“This isn’t something that I thought I would be doing so soon. I didn’t know Scootaloo as well as her friends know her but I know that she could ride her scooter like no pony I know. She could even get her two best friends on and zoom. She had a lot going for her but before I say too much, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, why don’t you two come up first, then Rainbow Dash and then who ever wants to come say something afterwards.” With that said Twilight stepped away from the podium and let Sweetie and Apple Bloom step up.

“Thank you Princess Twilight.” Tears rolled down Sweetie’s cheeks. “Apple Bloom and I have been with Scootaloo for a long time now. She was and still is a fellow Cutie Mark Crusader. She always had the craziest ideas but we loved them even if we did get in trouble for some of them.”

Apple Bloom then spoke. “We have a nickname for her, Scoots. When there was any kind of team event goin on, she would either have Rainbow Dash on her team or she wouldn’t do the event at all with some exceptions.”

Sweetie then took over again. “Thanks to Carol, this is slightly easier to get through; you may want to talk with her Rainbow Dash.” Sweetie noticed Rainbow with tears running down her cheeks. The two crusaders went on for another twenty minutes before they stepped down and let Rainbow go up.

“I’m not one to cry but this is one of those times that, I can feel comfortable with it. I took Scootaloo under my wing; it was just like having a sister.” Rainbow grabbed some Kleenex, wiped her puffy red eyes and blew her nose. “As far as I’m concerned, she is my sister and losing her after just getting her as a sister, it hurts. To think that I finally got a sister and I lost her. She wanted so much to be just like me and I was more then happy to show her all my tricks. She would say that I made her the luckiest pony alive but truth is; it’s just the opposite. We had so many things planned out once I became a wonderbolt. I would show her where I would train and when I had free time, I would train her myself. Training her was going to be a surprise. I may as well tell her now. I swear Scootaloo; I will never find anypony as good as you for a sister if I even bother to look. Scoots, your picture is all over my room now, I…I…I love you so much. The one regret I have is not helping you get your Cutie Mark sooner. Though I’m sure that it would have been in dancing even if you weren’t one for that type of thing. You are really good at it and I’ll miss you forever sis. If I ever get a statue of myself, you’ll be right there by me and I’ll make sure that you stand out above me; I love you Scoots and I’ll miss you forever.

After Rainbow, ten more ponies went up to say their goodbyes. The funeral took two and a half hours to get through. Then Twilight, Celestia, and Luna all helped to bury Scootaloo.