Scootaloo's Return

by RebelNarrator45

3 A Meeting with Dark Magic

"Scootaloo! Hey! Equestria to Scoots! Are you in there?!"

Scootaloo nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked up to find her two friends eyeing her with a mix of amusement and concern. They were seated at a table at Sugarcube Corner, chatting over cupcakes and coffee, a daily tradition they had started just after Scootaloo's return home nearly a month earlier.

"You ok, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Um, yeah! Yeah. I'm great..." Scootaloo said, hoping they wouldn't see past the lie.

She didn't want to have to tell them about the nightmares. Or the guilt that still lay deep within her heart. They may have forgiven her, but she still hated herself, every day.

"Great!" Sweetie Belle said cheerfully, oblivious to the hesitancy with which her friend spoke. "Back to what I was asking...how is it going with your Wonderbolt training?"

Scootaloo smiled widely, the always present guilt momentarily forgotten at the mention of her training. Especially considering it was Dash who was training her.

"It's awesome!!" She said happily. "Dash works with me every day, teaching me all the tricks and flight patterns and everything. Plus she got Twilight to put together a lesson plan of everything I need to know for the Academy entrance test. She tried to help me study, but you know how Dash hates studying!"

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom giggled. They knew that quite well.

"So when do ya think you'll be ready to take the test?" Apple Bloom asked.

"If everything goes well, I take it next week." Scootaloo replied. "I still can't believe that I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt! Especially considering I couldn't fly at all as a filly."

"I wish I could have seen you when you first flew!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
Scootaloo smiled sadly. "I do, too. It...it wasn't the same without you two there. Yet another thing my own stupidity took away from me. You at my first flight."

"Now, Scoots. Don't go diggin' up the past." Apple Bloom said firmly. "We forgave ya, remember? Ya need to forgive yourself now."

"I know." Scootaloo forced a smile. "It’s been so great to be back home. I especially love flying with Dash."

"Well, who wouldn't!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "She's the coolest and most awesome flyer in Equestria! Of course, now you're here and giving her a run for her money for that title."

Scootaloo laughed. "I think that her title is safe." She said. "I'm fast, and I'm pretty good, but she's still the best."

She glanced at a nearby clock on the wall and yelped, leaping up and nearly upsetting the entire table.

"Holy ponyfeathers! I was supposed to meet Dash at four! I'm late!! I'm sorry, girls, I gotta fly! But I'll see ya tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah!" The other two chorused.

"Bye, Scootaloo!" Pinkie screamed from the kitchen, sparking a round of laughter from the three younger mares.

Scootaloo walked outside and took to the sky, marveling at how awesome it felt to be flying. She'd been able to fly for five years, but she never got over how thrilling it was to lift off the ground and feel the wind rushing through her wings. Plus, up in the sky, she could forget her troubles for a little while. She drew a deep breath and zoomed forward, eager to find her big sister and practice with her.

*********************************

After a long few hours of practice, Scootaloo went to bed early. She was tired out and sore and fell asleep almost instantly...
***
For a few moments, things were dark. Then a familiar bluff came into view. She flinched as she walked closer, events playing out in front of her as if this was real life and not a dream.
She saw herself as a filly, showing off her tricks, laughing. Then she heard her own voice, bragging about her newest game. She watched as she shot towards the edge of the bluff.
"No." She whimpered, remembering all too well the momentary panic.
She watched as filly Scootaloo dropped to the ground, and filly Apple Bloom ran towards her.
"Stop!" She cried, breaking into a cold sweat. "Apple Bloom, don't!!"
But the dream Apple Bloom ran on, tripping, and hovering in mid air for the briefest of seconds before dropping from view.
"APPLE BLOOM!!!!!" Scootaloo screamed in unison with the filly version of herself.
She ran to the edge and looked over, in time to see her friend hit the ground with a familiar sickening thud.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs...
***
She awoke screaming, drenched in a cold sweat, shaking like a leaf.

"Scootaloo!" Dash burst in, looking greatly worried. "What happened?? Are you ok?? I heard a scream!"

She stopped short and stared at her sister, noticing her terrified expression. She hurried forward and quickly wrapped her in a hug, holding her trembling body close.

"Scoots, what's wrong?"

"D...don't wanna t...talk about it!" Scootaloo gasped, on the verge of tears.

Dash hugged her tighter. "Bad dream?"

"The worst!" Scootaloo wailed. "I keep seeing it in my dreams, Dash! Almost every night, the same thing!"

Dash didn't need to ask what. She knew.

"Aw, Scoots." She said. "It’s ok. Everypony forgave you. You just need to forgive yourself. Then the nightmares will stop."

"Easy for you to say." Scootaloo mumbled.

Dash rubbed her back. "It’s true, though. I know, cause I've had the same thing happen to me. You just gotta forgive yourself, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo pressed closer to her sister's body, her trembling starting to go away.

"I can't." She whispered so softly Dash didn't hear the words. "Not til I find a way to atone for this. Apple Bloom deserves it."

She sniffed, and her heavy eyes closed in spite of her attempts to fight off sleep. In seconds, she was out like a light, still snuggled in the comforting embrace of her sister.

**********************************
The following afternoon found Scootaloo strolling aimlessly along a dusty path just outside Ponyville...going nowhere in particular, just out walking, trying to clear her head. Trying to think of the best way to make things right. Trying to think of some kind of harsh punishment that would atone for her past crime. So preoccupied with her thoughts was she, that she didn't notice the black coated pony that was approaching her from the opposite direction until he was right in front of her.

"Hello!" He said.

"Gah!" Scootaloo jumped.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." He said, extending a hoof. "The name is Dark Magic."

Scootaloo arched an eyebrow at that. He chuckled.

"Yes, I know. Odd name. I assure you I'm perfectly harmless, though. Unless of course you do something serious enough to anger me." He winked.

"Scootaloo." She said, shaking his hoof.

"So, are you a magician or something?"

"What gave it away?" He asked in amusement. "My name? My magic Cutie Mark?"

"Yeah, sort of." Scootaloo said, with a slight grin. "Um, but why Dark Magic?"

"I come from a long line of magicians." He said. "And somewhere in that line was one named Dark Magic, because he used his magic for evil, like trying to control minds and take over Equestria type of evil."

Scootaloo instinctively took a few steps back, earning a chuckle.

"No, it's alright." Dark Magic assured her.
"I have no aspirations for world domination. Nor do I intend to have ponies walking around as mindless zomponies. No...I do not follow the evil path of that ancestor."

"Then why were you named after him then? Is it cause your coat is so dark?”

"I asked that same question when I was a colt." Dark Magic chuckled. "Do you know what my parents told me? They had given my older brother the privilege of naming me. And, having looked through our books of ancestors and relatives, he finally decided on 'Dark Magic' because it, and I quote, 'sounded so cool and awesome!' End quote. Needless to say, I haven't quite forgiven my brother for naming me after an evil supervillain."

Scootaloo laughed at the story. "I don't think I would have taken it so well myself." She said. "'Dark Magic' may sound cool, but honestly, it also sounds like you're a monster out to destroy Equestria. Uh...no offense."

"Oh, none taken." Dark Magic smiled. Then he sobered as he studied her intently. "Forgive me for asking, but...is there something wrong? You looked to be a million miles away when I approached. And even now I see a deep pain in your eyes."

Scootaloo blinked and looked down, scraping a hoof in the dirt as she pondered his question.

"I apologise if my question was out of line." He said. "You don't have to answer."

"No, it...it's fine." Scootaloo looked up. "Well, actually, it's not. I mean, yes, something is wrong. Well, not physically. Although I guess, yeah it is, if you consider my friend..." She broke off.

Dark Magic was staring at her, his expression one of confusion. Scootaloo sighed.

"I think I should start at the beginning." She said. "It might actually help to get this off my chest. I haven't been able to tell my friends..."

The two of them took a seat just off the path, in the grass, and Scootaloo, unsure as to why she was so drawn to spilling her pain and secrets to the black stallion, told him the entire story, starting with her and her friends being Crusaders and so on, and what had happened seven years earlier. How she'd nearly killed a friend, then run away, and only recently come back looking for forgiveness. She'd found it, of course, from her friends and everypony she knew...but she still had yet to forgive herself. She also told him about her search for a way to atone for what she had done.

Dark Magic listened patiently, only interrupting on occasion with a question to clear up something he didn't quite understand. When she finished, he spoke.

"So you ran away to Manehattan?" He said. "If it's not being too nosy, may I ask what you did there for seven years?"

"I lived on the streets the first year," Scootaloo said. "Then I met a really nice pony named Winter Chill (who was completely the opposite of her name, by the way), and we became friends. I finally told her I had no home or family. It really felt like I didn't back then. Anyway, her parents took me in immediately, and enrolled me in school. I spent the last six years of my life with them, and Winter became a sister to me. About two years ago I started doing after school work with Winter at a local bakery and earning my way. I kept thinking I should come home, but I couldn't. Til a month ago."

Dark Magic gave a nod. "It sounds to me like your family and friends welcomed you with open hooves."

"They did. Except Sweetie Belle. She was super mad still that first day. But then we talked and she finally forgave me too."

"But you still struggle to forgive yourself?"

"Yes."

"You want to atone for your mistake before you even consider forgiving yourself?"

"Yeah."

"You're looking for something that will prove once and for all you truly regret your crime?"

"Uh huh."

Dark Magic sat there, studying her, his brown eyes gleaming slightly with something she couldn't quite figure out. Was it glee? Scootaloo squirmed slightly under his intense scrutiny.

He finally smiled an enigmatic smile. Leaning towards her, he spoke in a low voice.

"What if I told you I know a way for you to achieve the atonement you're after? A way to make it so your friend is no longer hurt?"

His grin was now almost gleeful...but Scootaloo didn't notice. She was staring at him in shock.

"You can heal her?!" She squeaked.

"Mm hmm."

"Well, tell me!!!!"

Dark Magic leaned close. "It’s like this..."

Comments

[Bronyxy]

You're welcome!
You've done a fantastic job with it!

[The Lurker]

I do not trust this stallion. I get the feeling that his "healing" is going to require/cause a lot of pain for somepony down the line.