Be the Change the World Needs

by StoryWeaverKP

Chapter 6 - The Revelation

Chapter 6 – The Revelation

Scootaloo opened the door to Sugar Cube Corner, and she peered around the busy bakery. Several adult ponies were standing in line, while Pinkie Pie stood behind the counter. Rather than be rude, Scootaloo waited at the back of the line.
One by one, the ponies in front of her purchased delicious pastries, cupcakes, and other such things. When Scootaloo finally got to the front of the line, Pinkie smiled down at her.

“Hey Scoots,” Pinkie said. “How’s that new cutie mark treating you? Aren’t you excited? I’d be so excited if I were you. That reminds me of m-”

Instead of interrupting the older, pink mare, Scootaloo just stared at her and listened. She waited patiently on the outside, but inside, her soul writhed in the most terrible forms of dreaded anticipation.

The second sign had happened.

If things were different, then she would have still been rejoicing with her friends. When the mark first appeared, she pretended to be so happy, and she shrieked with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Not all of her delight had been fake. For as long as their friendship existed, they had been working toward that one goal, and now, it was a reality.

However, that wasn’t the only thing that became a prickly, scary truth.

“Scootaloo?” Pinkie asked, concern heavy in her voice. “Are you okay? You don’t seem like yourself.”

Scootaloo glanced back, and all of the other ponies in the bakery had been regarding her with the same level of worry.
She let out an awkward giggle. “Um… I’m…” she winced. Oh sure, she could lie and say she was fine, but the time of lying was over. “I need your help, Pinkie. C-can I talk to you for a moment.”

Pinkie nodded, and then she turned her attention to the other customers behind the small, orange filly.

“Hey everypony, I’ll be back in like… fifteen minutes.” Pinkie gave them an apologetic smirk. “Please don’t be mad.”

No pony said anything, and many of them nodded.

Truly, this was the best place in the entire world, both in the past, present, and future sense.
Rather than talk in the back of the bakery, Pinkie Pie took Scootaloo up to her bed room. Once the door was closed, Pinkie frowned down at Scootaloo.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

A great knot had formed in the base of Scootaloo’s throat, and she lowered her head in what one might consider shame. It wasn’t shame though, but an emotion far more weighty and draining.

“I…” Scootaloo began. “I need your help planning a … gathering.”

“A gathering?” Pinkie asked.

Scootaloo raised her attention back up to view the pure blue eyes that Pinkie had become well known for. In those irises, ponies very seldom found hints of sadness, despair, or turmoil. A sudden tugging pulled in Scootaloo’s heart, and she yearned for a small degree of strength from this splendid eyes.

“I have something very important to tell you, the other elements, and even the Royal sisters.” Scootaloo gulped loudly. “Can you please also invite Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle? It’s important that they be here for it too. I’d try and deliver the invitations myself, but… I just can’t.”

The air felt oily and slick, and every time Scootaloo drew in breath, her stomach bubbled with noxiousness.

“Is everything okay?” Pinkie asked.

Tears trailed down her cheeks, and Scootaloo said, “No, no its not.”
In response, Pinkie held her hoof to her mouth, and her eyes became wet too.

“When does this … gathering need to happen?” Pinkie asked.

Scootaloo sniffled. “As soon as possible.”

“Okay, then.” Pinkie picked Scootaloo up and placed her on Pinkie’s bed. “You stay here, and I’ll take care of everything.

Don’t worry, Pinkie’s on the case.”

A warm smile creased across the pink mare’s face, and she gently caressed Scootaloo’s face.

“Th-thank you,” Scootaloo said. She laid back on the bed, and then she started to weep softly.

In order for her to tell them everything that she needed to, Scootaloo needed to get all the water works out of her system first.

Pinkie stood there for another moment before she sprinted out of the room.

Scootaloo placed her face against Pinkie’s pillow and started to wail harder. Why did this have to be so hard? Why did the monsters have to come in the first place? All of this was much too much for a small filly like herself to take on, and now… the crucial moment had finally arrived.

“Get it out,” Scootaloo thought. “Get it out before they get here.”

A soft voice beckoned her, one that belonged to the very best pony in all of Equestia.

“Scootalo,” Rainbow asked. “What is going on? What’s happened that’s made you so sad?”

She looked up from the pillow and wiped her moist face on her hoof. When she glanced over in Rainbow Dash’s direction, she nearly jumped. All six of the Elements of Harmony, Spike, the two Royal Sisters, and even her two best friends stood in the room. All of them had masks of empathic distress.

How long had she been weeping there? Time had no meaning at the moment, and for some reason, she almost found that ironically funny.

Scootaloo sat up on the bed, and Rainbow landed beside her. One of her blue wings wrapped around her shoulders.

Scootaloo sniffled again, and she peeked up at Princess Luna.

“Princess Luna,” Scootaloo said. “C-can you please show them that one dream of mine you had visited?”

The blue alicorn’s eyes widened for a moment. “You mean the one conjured by Rainbow Dash’s stories?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “I’m sorry, princess. I … lied you. Those weren’t made from stories Rainbow Dash told me.” She gulped. “Those were based on personal memories.”

The other nine ponies kept switching their attention from Scootaloo to Princess Luna.

“Personal memories?” Princess Luna asked. “But that’s not possible. Nothing like that has ever happened in Equestria.”

“Not yet, it hasn’t,” Scootaloo replied.

Another long moment of silence lingered before Twilight leaned down and peered into Scootaloo’s eyes. “What are you saying?”

Scootaloo sniffled. “I’m not from your time.” The next words tasted so bitter, for they marked the real end of her living here. “I’m from the future, a future that was destroyed by terrible monsters.”

“What kind of monsters?” Apple Jack asked.

Scootaloo said, “If Princess Luna shows you, it will be easier to explain.”

The Princess of the Night hesitated before her long, slender horn shimmered.

The room blackened out of existence, and suddenly, they were all standing in the clearing as the giant monsters impaled, electrocuted, and captured ponies. When the dream ended, it was Rarity who spoke first.

“What in the name of sweet Celestia were those things?” Rarity suddenly blushed as she caught the Day Monarch’s eyes.
Scootaloo gulped. “Those monsters are called…” she nearly threw up. “the Bronies.”

Now that she said their name, they would come for her. Scootaloo just knew it. Even now, she felt unseen eyes lock on her. Time was short, and she had to say her goodbyes NOW.

“I had to watch them take my mom away from me, just like what you saw in my nightmare,” Scootaloo said. “For a long time, I was on the run, but I had two great mentors to raise me and love me.” She turned her attention to the other two fillies in the room. “Their names were Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.”

Tears trailed down Scootaloo’s cheeks, and even her two best friends were crying now.

“Thank you,” Scootaloo said. “Thank you for teaching me how to be a great pony, for loving me, and …” she sniffled, “for being my friend.”

Fluttershy and Spike openly wept too.

Scootaloo turned to Princess Twilight, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia. “You have to prepare for their coming. They have powerful weapons and magic like nothing we’ve ever seen. You have to stop this from happening.” She wheezed a little. “Now that I have said their names and revealed their plans, they are going to come for me and take me away.”

“No one is coming to take you away!” Rainbow Dash said.

The air changed, and it grew thicker and more static. Every pony in the room felt it, and they were visually alarmed by it, based on the fact that every pony’s eyes widened.

Her time was almost up! Panic fluttered in Scootaloo’s heart. She turned to Rainbow Dash and placed her hoofs against Rainbow Dash’s chest.

“I have to tell you something before it’s too late,” Scootaloo said. “I’m your d-”

A white, wide vortex of energy opened at the far end of the room, and every pony turned to stare at it.

Four strange figures emerged from the portal, and they carried long, rod like things in their hands. Their bodies were covered in some kind of weird armor, and their faces were concealed by shiny glass-faced helmets.
Terror openly flapped in Scootaloo’s soul. Rainbow Dash tightened the grip around Scootaloo.

Just as Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stepped in to block the path of the Bronies, the monsters pointed their rods at them. Green energy shot out from the ends, and suddenly, both of the Royal Sisters were coated in a glowing, green aura of magic. They struggled and their magic horns glowed brighter.

The others started shooting their green beams as well, and soon, every pony and even Spike were illuminated in green energy.

One of the Bronies said, “Those stasis fields won’t last long, not against the princesses.” It pointed toward Scootaloo, the only pony not affected by whatever a stasis field was. “Get her quick.”

The other ponies screamed out in protest and struggled, but they were locked in place. Cracks had formed around the auras that surrounded Princesses Luna, Celestia, and Twilight.

It was a futile thing, but Scootaloo clung to Rainbow Dash’s form. She wept hard, for the end was here at last. There would be no more happy memories, adventures, or periods of reprieve once the Bronies got a hoof on her.

One of the Bronies grabbed Scootaloo by the mane, and it yanked her hard. For just a moment, Scootaloo maintained her steely grip on the most important mare in her life.

Another of the bronies punched her in the back, and pain radiated all though her body. Her grip slackened.

“You leave her ALONE!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed, louder than the rest.

One of the Bronies held up Scootaloo by the tail, and then it smacked her across the face. Her vision went black for a second.

The Bronies moved back toward the portal. Large chips of the aura broke apart from the princesses prisons. Despite that, Scootaloo’s time was up.

She reached out toward Rainbow dash and screamed out, “Mom!!!!”

The last thing that Scootaloo saw was Rainbow Dash’s irises shrinking to pinpricks.

Coming soon… Chapter 7 – The Place Where Monsters Live