Nights on Horlick's Hill

by RarityEQM

Night 13

Scootaloo was there before her tonight, sitting silently under countless stars twinkling over head. Odd, Diamond thought, as she strolled along the path towards Horlick's Hill. Scootaloo rarely showed up before Diamond did, mostly due to the trek she had to take from town and the Aunt's she had to wait to go to sleep before she could sneak out of the house. The orange pegasus was leaning against the tree, hind legs kicked over one another and forelegs tucked under her hear while a lengthy piece of wheat bobbled from her lips, piercing the warm summer night.

"Heya Scoots! Aunts go ta bed early tonight?" Diamond called out boisterously making her way up the grassy hillside. Scootaloo let her gaze drift towards Diamond, and then back into the empty night sky, with only a subtle nod in the way of a response. Diamond frowned. Silence was a distinctly unusual answer for Scootaloo, and one that forced a eyebrow to arch on the silver filly. She tilted her head and crept closer, until she could sit comfortably down next to the other girl.

"...Scoots? You okay?" Diamond murmured, her voice softer now, as if Scootaloo's dismal response had also silenced Diamond's energy. The ground-bound pegasus glanced over again and gave a snort. Diamond winced.

"Uh...hey, Scoots, if I screwed up lemme know, ok? I mean, I ain't exactly, whadda call, uh, real used to this whole friendship, thing, but I-" Diamond began, hastily searching for whatever she could to draw out the friendlier side of Scootaloo's personality, but she was quickly silenced when Scootaloo quietly stood up, letting her gaze linger in the distance.

"Naw. You didn't do anything. Mom was supposed to write today. She didn't," Scootaloo growled. Oh. Diamond felt her ears wilt on either side of her head and her mood tank. Scootaloo's mother worked over seas. Ponyland, as Diamond was lead to believe, acting as some sort of ambassador for Equestria. Or something like that. Diamond never really pried, and Scootaloo never really offered up any information. Diamond, however, had managed to suss out that Scootaloo wasn't particularly pleased with her living situation and she couldn't blame her. Occasional cards and a letter every other month was a poor substitute for caring parents.

Diamond leaned back against the tree, letting silence weave its way between them. She didn't have to say anything. There was nothing to say. She could feel the quiet anger racing through Scootaloo, the same anger she sometimes felt when contemplating the reason her own mother had left her behind. The same, trembling, horrible rage that bitterly wrapped around a ponies tongue and turned sputtered tears into vicious hate.

Scootaloo glared her bitter glare into the warm night sky and spit the wheat from her lips. Her wings splayed out, closed, and splayed again, all within span of a few short seconds. Despite her twisted visage of a snarl, she didn't say a word, but the trembling frame and heckled fur spoke in volumes.

"She promised she'd make the trip to come see me if I got all A's on my report card this semester, D. She promised. Where is she? Huh?! Where is she?! She's not here! I don't see her! I did it. I worked my tail off but I did it and she isn't here! She couldn't even write me a lousy letter?! What's it supposed to take?! WHAT?! Scootaloo barked into the night.

The night did not reply. Scootaloo heft a rock in her hooves and chucked it as hard as she could into the empty darkness before her, where it vanished out of view into a blanket of black. There was no answer, despite how badly she wanted to force one to appear.

"WELL!?" she screamed, hoarsely, her voice carrying into the far reaches of the night and echoing into nothingness. Had there been any answer to offer, Diamond would have happily piped in, but she was silent in her observation, unable to do anything but watch the rage bubble to the surface and spill over into frothing despair. Scootaloo had picked up another rock and hurled it as hard as she could into the air, watching it sail miserably into a grassy hillside where it vanished. Her anger did not travel with it.

"Why would you have foals if you didn't want to spend time with them?! If your stupid work was so important, why have me at all?! Was I a mistake?! Was it because they loved each other SO much that they couldn't keep themselves off each other?! WHY CAN'T THEY TOSS ME A LITTLE OF THAT?! AM I JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH?!" Scootaloo barked. The night was cruelty in its finest form, echoing Scootaloo's questions back with a deafening silence that rang endlessly in her ears.

The orange pegasus tumbled back into a sitting position, crumpling under the weight of her own misery. Was a letter really so much to ask? Was the job so demanding that her parents couldn't bothered to remind her that they loved her. That they cared? That they even remembered?

"They weren't here for my Cutie-mark. They weren't here for my Cute-ceañera. They weren't here to protect me when the Changelings invaded. They weren't here when we got to wave the flag for the Equestrian Games, they weren't...Where are...WHATS SO IMPORTANT? WHY WEREN'T THEY HERE?!! DID I MESS UP?! I'M SORRY!! I'M SORRY ALREADY!!! JUST- JUST COME BACK!" Scootaloo shrieked to an indifferent sky, the raging inferno of her anger melting down into a smoldering flicker. She blinked back tears, and flinched at the sensation of a warm silver wing wrapping snugly around her shoulders. She didn't fight it. She couldn't. She sighed and let the other filly's embrace wash over her.

"...Why don't they want me, D? Wha'd I do?" she mumbled into the blackened silver wings. Diamond shook her head quietly.

"Couldn't tell ya, but I'm guilty of the same crime, ya know? Maybe there ain't no crime. Maybe there ain't no answer. Maybe we didn't do nothin wrong and maybe the world just sucks. Or, maybe we're lucky," Diamond pipped. Scootaloo perked an ear.

"...what?" she asked sullenly. Diamond forced a smile.

"Well, yeah! See, ways I figure it, all them ponies in Ponyville, right? They got's parents. Parents got foals. Right? Right. But us? We ain't gots no parents, but what we got is ponies that still care about us. Really and truly. I gots my brother, Bardigan, you'se gots your sister, Rainbow Dash. We ain't blood and that's ok. Thats even BETTER, cause they ain't stuck with us like all them parents with all them foals. They PICKED us. They looked at us and said "Yeah, those fillies, those fillies get our love, and no others. They came ta -US- and decided we was better than all them other fillies out there and we get to be part of their lives. Not cause they gotta be, but cause they wanna be! Ain't no pony forcin' em ta be there for us, they wanna be there cause they recognize how awesome we is! My mom. Pffft, she don't gots no idea what she's missin out on, but Bardy? Yeah, Bardigan got ta be there when Luna added me to the Night Court. Mom ain't never gonna know THAT joy, but he got to experience it with me. Rainbow Dash? She chose ta be you'se sister, and guess what? She got to share one of the most important parts of you'se life with you, cause she wanted to. Cause she realized how awesome it would be ta be apart of you'se life! Scoots, you n' me? We all kinds of awesome, and only special ponies recognize it! The kinda ponies that you'se want in your life! The kind of ponies we is lucky enough ta have!! Bardy says family ain't whatcha are, it's whatcha do," Diamond squawked. Slowly, Scootaloo tilted her head to the side, peering at the silver filly thoughtfully.

"...You're full of it," She said quietly, leaning back against the grassy hillside. Diamond sighed and lay down next to her.

"But you're not wrong, either," Scootaloo offered after a moment. "My big sister is a Wonder-bolt, an Element of Harmony, a Savior of Equestria a dozen times over and a member of the Court of Friendship. Your brother is a world famous playwright who gets invited to write shows for royalty. Both of them choose us to be apart of their world, and that makes us pretty special, doesn't it?" She asked. Diamond beamed.

"Sure does! And, like, you'se got two other ponies that got your back, all the time, like sisters you know?" Diamond grinned. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"Pffft, yeah they're cool, but lets not forget you are the errand girl for a literal God. If somepony messed with you, Luna would be the ultimate 'mom' to tattle to. The next day, that pony would cease, to, be." Scootaloo giggled.

"Ha! So, Scoots, it's like, almost one in the mornin! We got the whole night ahead of us, whadda wanna do?" Diamond asked a now cheerful Scootaloo. The orange pegasus rubbed her chin thoughtfully before she pointed into the distance.

"You wanna see if we can find Will-o-Wisps in Froggy Bottom Bog?" she asked. Diamond's face lit up.

"Hey, yeah! That sounds like fun! Race you?"

"You're on!!"

And with that, the two fillies sped off into the night.

Comments

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Aw, poor Scoots. Glad Diamond cheered her up.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

"She promised she'd make the trip to come see me if I got all A's on my report card this semester, D. She promised. Where is she? Huh?! Where is she?! She's not here! I don't see her! I did it. I worked my tail off but I did it and she isn't here! She couldn't even write me a lousy letter?! What's it supposed to take?! WHAT?! Scootaloo barked into the night.

That promise is disturbing. A parents presence should never be contingent on a child's school performance. Even if a child has been naughty and been sent to the corner or their room the parent should still be available.

But Scoots' parents really are that bad.

[ilubatar nuctemeron]

" WELL!? " she screamed, hoarsely, her voice carrying into the far reaches of the night and echoing into nothingness. Had there been any answer to offer, Diamond would have happily piped in, but she was silent in her observation, unable to do anything but watch the rage bubble to the surface and spill over into frothing despair. Scootaloo had picked up another rock and hurled it as hard as she could into the air, watching it sail miserably into a grassy hillside where it vanished. Her anger did not travel with it.

Good job ;)
I've loved your manage words