• Published 28th Mar 2019
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Nights on Horlick's Hill - RarityEQM



A collection of conversations between Scootaloo and Diamond Dancer

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Night 19

"Hey," the voice was quiet. A tender, friendly tone that floated up to the highest branch on the top of the tree where Diamond was sitting. The tiny pegasus peered over the scrap of parchment in her hooves and flashed Scootaloo a warm smile in return, lifting her head in a faint arch of acknowledgment.

"Hey," she cooed, but immediately returned her focus towards the quill in her muzzle and the paper held in her hooves. Scootaloo smiled quietly, wiggling her hips before she leaped up onto the lowest branch she could reach. Honestly, it seemed like the lone tree atop Horlick's Hill was made for climbing. Perfect for ground-bound pegasi with an ache for the sky. Nimbly, Scootaloo made her way up the tree, branch after branch, until she could go no higher, and sat just underneath the branch where Diamond was sitting, scribbling furiously at the parchment she was holding.

"Whatcha doin?"

"Writin,"

"I can see that, but I mean-"

"A letter! To mom!" Diamond exclaimed, her muzzle still wrapped around the quill she was holding. Scootaloo's eyes widened and a sharp gasp ripped itself from her lips. No. Way.

"What?! REALLY?! Diamond?! You found your mom?!" Scootaloo squealed. It was news that almost knocked her clear from the branch she clung too. A treasure that was worth more than gold, forever out of reach for the two of them. Had Diamond really succeeded in locating her long lost mother?! Was it possible?! Was it really possible?! Carefully, Scootaloo studied the pegasus above her. Diamond smiled, but it wasn't the vibrant, explosive smile of somepony who'd finally found a missing piece of their life. It was the sad smile of a sad pony who was doing the best she could in a cruel world. Scootaloo winced.

"Naw..." Diamond said quietly. She had finished writing whatever it was that she was jotting down, and now stared carefully at the parchment she held, reading and re-reading the scribbled text she'd painstakingly been scribing. Scootaloo tilted her head curiously to one side, muzzle scrunched up in curiosity, which grew even more when Diamond carefully folded the parchment and stuffed it inside of an envelope.

"You...You're writing her a letter?"

"Yeah,"

"That you're gonna send?"

"That's the plan,"

"But, if you don't know where she is, how is it gonna get to her?"

"...It won't..." Diamond said quietly. Scootaloo winced again. Oh. She carefully and delicately sealed the envelope, licking it closed before writing three letters atop it. Even from where Scootaloo was seated below her, she could make out the thick, bold ink of the letters. MOM. And with that, Diamond held the envelope in the air, and let the wind snatch it from her hooves, where it drifted off into the night sky, vanishing into the distance. Scootaloo bit her lower lip, watching Diamond's shoulders slump. The smaller pegasus suddenly seemed to be crushed under the weight of her wings, because she flumped down on the branch she was standing on. Like her legs would no longer support her weight. There, silently, she stared into the warm summer sky, past the infinite black of the cosmos and the glittering stars twinkling down overhead.

"What....what do you write to her?"

"Oh questions, mostly. I guess. I ask...where I'm supposed to fit in...If you didn't want me, why'd you have me? I ask, are you angry with me? Did I ruin your life? Can you ever forgive me, if I did? I ask her if that's why she got rid of me. I ask her if things could have been different. I ask her why I wasn't good enough. I ask her if I have siblings, or if I could have changed something. Anything. Anything at all to make her want to stay. Sometimes I ask her how she's doing. And what her favorite color is, or if she likes summer nights as much as I do. I ask her if she cries or if she misses me. I ask her if I make her sad. I ask her if she's looking for me, an-and if she found me, if we could be a family again. Other times, I tell her about Luna. And my most recent mission. And my brother, and my best friend, and I tell her all about my star and the last wish it granted. I tell her how I wish on it every night to see her. I tell her it grants most of them, but never that one. I tell her I dream about her, but she's never there when I wake up. I tell her I'm not mad. I tell her I get it. I tell her, that, I still love her even if she doesn't love me. Sometimes I...I can't...I can't figure out what to say, so I just...I make up stories...about how we're together and how happy we are, and m-maybe if she reads them, she'll be happy too even if they're just made up. I tell her that I'm doing really well, but I'd be better if she came back to get me. I tell her I'm sad I'll never know what it feels like to hug her, or listen to her heartbeat. I tell her I miss her even though I've never met her. I tell her all the things in my head until I run out of parchment. Sometimes I have to get more. Sometimes there isn't enough. There's never enough. So I have to stop, or I'll keep writing forever. I always tell her I'll be waiting, if she wants to come back. Even if she doesn't, I'll still wait, s-so if she ever changes her mind she'll know, I'll be there...a-and we can always start over...when she wants to. If she wants to. I'll never stop waiting for her to come back," Diamond sputtered quietly. She shook her head, adjusting her balance on the branch above, and glanced down at Scootaloo with a sad little grin wrapped around her muzzle.

"But I guess it's dumb to write a letter to a pony you don't know, who won't get it," she murmured quietly. Scootaloo found herself immediately shaking her head.

"Not really. You ever think about your dad?"

"My dad?"

"Yeah. I mean, I always hear you talk about missing your mother, but you never really mention your father,"

"...I don't, no. I don't really think about him. I try not to,"

"You try not to?"

"...Scoots...it's...it's easier, to imagine, one pony getting rid of you, but it's a lot harder when you imagine that it was a joint effort. Like...like two ponies decided that I wasn't worth keeping? One, could be heartless enough to do it, but two...two ponies sat down and decided "This filly is worthless," and the other said "I agree," and neither one tried to talk the other out of it? Or, if they did, the other made such a good argument for getting rid of me that they decided to go ahead and do so? No. I don't think about my father. I mean, mom is the one that had me, right? What say did he have, if any, in what happened to me. Did he even care? Did he even know? If he did...why hasn't he come to get me...why didn't either of them care Scoots? What about me is so...so horrible that two ponies...t-that they would decide to...that they wouldn't want ..no. No. I don't think about my father,"

"Yeah. Okay. I get it."

"Yeah?"

"Well, yeah. We're sisters. Of course, I get it,"

"Sisters? Us?"

"Yeah! We're sisters D! In all the ways that count! We're sisters in suffering, sisters in struggle and sisters in solace. Ground-bound pegasi that can't fly. Who else in town has those issues? Nopony that I know, so we gotta stick together! I figure if Bardigan can adopt you, and Rainbow can adopt me, then we can adopt each other. " Scootaloo chirped grinning warmly at the delighted smile that spread across Diamond's muzzle.

"...Yeah? For real?"

"For really real!"

"...Guess it's kinda hard to be lonely when you've got a sister, huh?"

"I guess it is,"

"...If that's the case, 'sis', we'd better get to work,"

"Work?"

"Yeah. I'm not letting a sister of mine go through life without flight! We've got wishin' to do and stars to seek!"

"I've got my eyes peeled!"

"Me too! We're gonna be cloud-bound in no time! Just you wait!"