Little Pony Story 2: The Search for Scootaloo

by Lets Do This

The Filmmaker

"So, how long are we gonna just sit here?" Rainbow whispered.

"Kinda hard to do anythin' else," Applejack replied, "with them Storm guards outside standin' watch. I ain't seen them budge an inch. I don't think they even get tired!"

"We could take 'em on!" Rainbow said, boxing the air with her hooves. "If only Twilight would get it together, and quit staring at the wall!"

The farm pony glanced worriedly towards the corner of the box where Twilight was sitting by herself, staring pensively out through the tough plastic. She'd been sitting silently like that for so long that Applejack was starting to worry.

She's our Princess, Applejack thought. So we should follow her lead. But it's kind of hard to do that when she's not leading us anywhere.

Getting up, Applejack crossed to sit next to her. "Twi, hon," she said softly. "I know ya want to help Tempest. But we really gotta think about gettin' out of here ourselves. We can't help either Tempest or Scootaloo, cooped up like this."

"I know, A.J.," Twilight replied sadly. "I'm just not sure what we'd do if we did get out. I'm used to helping ponies with research questions, or ponies who are worried, or have some concrete problem I can help solve. But with Tempest... I don't even know what the issue is. I need to talk with her, find out what's on her mind, why she's like this."

Applejack nodded uncomfortably. Then she glanced across at Twilight's old unicorn form, silent and unmoving... and found herself wondering if the old, unicorn Twilight would be so indecisive. Then she chided herself for the thought. This is Twilight, she told herself. Crown or no, she cares enough to figure out what to do first, rather than just rush in. We got to stick by her, be ready to move when she's got a plan worked out.

"Maybe you'll have a chance to talk with her," Applejack cautiously suggested, "when this film thing gets rolling again."

"Maybe," Twilight nodded. "But who knows when that'll be..."

BOOM.

The toys collectively froze at the thunderous noise: the sound of the basement door slamming.

Then there was a steady, loud THUMP, THUMP, THUMP on the cellar stairs.

Remaining still, Applejack tried to peer out through the plastic wall of the tub. But she could see nothing in the darkness outside, even as the heavy footsteps came closer.

Then like an unexpected avalanche, the filmmaker suddenly hove into view beside the table. Large hands reached out towards the plastic tub. The lid was peeled off like a house-roof in a tornado. And a beringed hand reached in... to pick up Princess Twilight from her place in the corner. The lid flopped heavily down again.

Letting out the breath she'd been holding, Applejack inched closer to the wall of the tub, trying to see out, to see where Twilight was being taken...

And Twilight herself had a much better view.

Laying in the filmmaker's palm, she stared up at him. All she could see of him, looming in the shadows high overhead, was the oil-slick glistening of light on the lenses of his glasses, and the burnt-coal gleam of the end of the vape stick gripped in his mouth.

Reaching up with his other hand, he removed the vape stick, and then exhaled like an erupting volcano, a long, slow, fulminating cloud-bank of nicotine-laced fumes.

And Twilight could tell, just from the way the filmmaker held her, just from the way he stared down at her, silently and evaluatingly...

... he no longer played with toys. Ever.

Cupped in his hand, Twilight could sense, for a brief moment, his complete and utter disregard for her. To him, she was not even a toy... just a prop, bought solely for his filmwork, to be sold off thereafter or simply discarded, with neither pity nor regret.

For that brief moment Twilight knew what it was like, having a completely disinterested, dispassionate owner: a cold, heartless, uncaring deity whose only interest was the technical challenge of recreating scenes from movies, using toys as props.

Twilight decided, then and there, she never wanted to experience anything like that ever again. And no other toy should either... not if she had anything to say about it!

I have to get Tempest out of all this.

Returning the vape stick to his mouth, the filmmaker moved to the Audience Hall set. He opened the top of the cylindrical metal cage, placed Twilight inside, then shut it again.

And standing right outside the cage was Tempest Shadow, glaring in angrily at her.

The filmmaker repositioned his camera, then fiddled with the focus for a while. Then he began taking quick snapshots, reaching in to reposition Tempest each time, creating an animation of her stalking in a circle about the cage.

And all the while Tempest eyed Twilight smugly, enjoying the limelight, enjoying having the Princess at her mercy.

"Tempest..." Twilight whispered.

"Shut it, Princess!" Tempest hissed back.

Twilight fell silent. The filming continued. Eventually Tempest was turned round to face the cage, then marched straight up to it. Her armored hooves were placed on its bars...

There was suddenly an angry, hornet-like buzzing coming from below the level of the table. The filmmaker cursed, then pulled out a phone and looked at it. Turning away from the table, he crossed back to the cellar stairs and stormed up them, the phone pressed to his ear, slamming the door behind him.

In the silence that followed, Twilight and Tempest regarded each other through the bars of the cage.

"Why are you doing this?" Twilight finally said. "You're a pony toy! Just like me!"

"I'm nothing like you!" Tempest snarled. "I'm more than you'll ever be!" She smiled coldly. "I'm in command of an army... the star in a movie... and... and..."

Her eyes suddenly went wide, her gaze turned sad and lost. And then she sat down on the floor. She put her hooves to her face, her shoulders hunched.

"... and I'm a broken toy..."

Twilight blinked, startled. "You're broken?" she asked. "How?"

"You mean it isn't obvious?" Tempest pointed to her damaged horn. "Just how dense are you, Princess?"

"But..."

"The worst part is," Tempest went on, "I don't even remember how it happened! The Storm King says my owner broke my horn while playing with me, which is why I was sold off." She stared at Twilight. "I just want to be whole again! That's all I want! The Storm King can give me that. He'll fix my horn, but first I have to help him finish this movie!"

She jumped up, and all but rammed her head through the bars, glaring in at Twilight. "And you are not going to screw this up for me!"

Frightened, Twilight struggled to keep her voice calm. "Tempest, listen, You're not a broken toy --"

"Save it, Princess! The last thing I need is phony encouragement from some pastel-colored Princess pony!"

"No, really! In the movie... the actual Movie, your horn was damaged right from the very start. Your horn doesn't need to be fixed, Tempest! You're not broken. You're exactly the pony you're supposed to be, right now!"

"Seriously?" Tempest stared at her in disbelief. "I'm supposed to be a magical cripple? I'm supposed to be maimed for life? Whose crazy idea of a world is that?" She shook her head. "I don't have to accept this. I don't. I'll get my horn back, and I'll be just like I used to be! That's all that matters!"

"It's hard to accept, I know," Twilight persisted. "But it's the truth, Tempest. You're the pony you need to be, already. And you don't have to live like this. You don't have to be like this! My friends and I can help you. Just give us a chance..."

BOOM.

Twilight fell silent, hearing the heavy footsteps coming down the stairs again.

As the filmmaker returned to his work, Tempest was already back in position, her hooves pressed to the bars of the cage. She eyed Twilight through them, dangerously.

"Don't screw this up for me, Princess," she warned. "I only have one shot at this... and I'm not going to let you ruin it!"

"Tempest..." Twilight whispered, desperately.

"Shhh!"

Twilight fell silent, feeling helpless.

There has to be a way to snap her out of this, she fretted. There has to!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I say we've waited long enough!" Rainbow said. "We need to bust out of here now, while Tempest is distracted."

"Sayin' we do get out," Applejack asked. "Then what?"

"We keep lookin' for Scootaloo!" Rainbow replied. "And when we find her, we grab Twilight and then get ourselves all shipped back to Bonnie's room, whether Twilight wants to come with us or not!"

"Oooh, but what if we're seen?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow shook her head. "Volcano-face over there is too busy making home movies. He'll never even notice us!"

"I dunno..." the farm pony said. "Twilight thinks we should help this Tempest toy... try to be her friends, like. See if maybe we can snap her out of her Movie persona."

"Ahh!" Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. "I think that crown has gone to Twilight's head. I bet that Princess pony toy came from a Movie gift-set. Maybe even the same one Tempest came from. Yeah! I bet it's twisting her thoughts! Making her want to help Tempest instead of us!"

"Really, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity sniffed. "Twilight has always cared about all of us. It's no surprise she'd want to help this Tempest, too."

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie shouted. She was suddenly wearing an army beret and holding a corn-cob pipe. "What's happened to your loyalty, dirt-bag?"

"What? Uhh..." Rainbow shook her head. "It's not the same thing!"

"Ain't it, though?" Applejack glared at her. "Seems to me y'all have been a little obsessed with lookin' for Scootaloo, because you'd like to be the pony who rescues her and brings her home!"

"So? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothin'... I'm just sayin', Twilight feels the same way about Tempest. She wants to help her, and bring her home too! Besides which, she's our Princess --"

"Acting Princess!" Rainbow interrupted.

"Whatever!" Applejack shot back. "We should respect what she's trying to do, and help both ponies if we can."

"Fine!" Rainbow waved a hoof again. "Look, Twilight's already working the Tempest side of things. We'll find Scootaloo, make sure she's safe, and then lend a hoof with Tempest. That way we're ready to cut and run if things get dicey, and nopony gets left behind. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

"I suppose..." Applejack gave her a disapproving look, but didn't press the point. "In any case, bustin' outta here is a good first step. But how are we gonna get past them guards?" She motioned to the two Storm soldiers still stationed outside.

Rainbow grinned. "I've got an idea about that!"

A few moments later, the guards were startled when Fluttershy suddenly plopped heavily onto the tabletop between them. She glanced up in hurt annoyance at Rainbow and Pinkie Pie, looking down from the lip of the tub. Rainbow motioned with a hoof in a Get-On-With-It kind of way.

Then Fluttershy sat up, cleared her throat and put on a winning smile, and looked up at the two guards.

"Oh, um... hi! I, uh... just wanted to ask if there's anything you two might want to talk about...?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The filmmaker ran through the cage sequence several times, moving Tempest in different ways each time, with the camera positioned in different places.

Different camera angles, Twilight's nerdy mind automatically supplied. He probably edits them together afterwards.

Irritated, she shook the thought from her head, and focused on Tempest. She'd given up trying to talk to the maroon pony while the filming was going on. Tempest herself likewise remained silent, and seemed to be increasingly distracted as the filming went on. She merely glanced at Twilight, every now and then, as if to be sure she was still there.

And more than once, Twilight thought she saw that look again: the fearful, desperate look of a toy who wanted help, but didn't feel able to ask for it.

Finally, the filmmaker appeared to be satisfied. Moving the camera aside, he reached in, opened the top of the cage, extracted Princess Twilight, and then carried her back to the storage tub. He dumped her into it, then dropped the lid on it distractedly, not bothering to snap it down. And then, apparently deciding to take a break, he gave an enormous yawn, stretched, and then went steadily THUMP, THUMP, THUMP back up the stairs. The cellar door slammed behind him.

And Twilight flopped onto her back, exhausted from having to stand motionless in one place for so long.

"I don't know, girls!" she said, distractedly. "I'm not sure I'm getting through to her. But I have to keep trying. We can't leave Tempest here, I'm convinced of that. No toy deserves to live like this. I know we should be looking for Scootaloo, but could you please, please, just give me a little more time here? Maybe when we're done with filming this evening there'll be time to talk to her more. And then I can reason with her, find out what the deal is. I know she wants our help. I just have to figure out how to convince her to trust us. That's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

Hearing nothing in reply, she looked up at her friends, standing motionless around her. She reached out and touched Applejack --

-- or what she'd thought was Applejack. It was only the E-Zonned toys, standing motionless and lifeless around her.

"Urghhh! That's just great!" Twilight put a hoof to her face in embarrassment. Here I am, baring my soul to a bunch of mindless hunks of plastic!"

She looked up at the silent toys. "Um... no offense. You know how it is." Sitting up, she covered her face with her hooves, feeling utterly ashamed. Then she looked around. Finally, she located her old unicorn self, standing over in the corner where they'd tucked it for safe-keeping. Getting up, she walked over to the toy and stared at its serious, thoughtful expression.

Maybe Rainbow is right, she thought. We came here to find Scootaloo. And I've let myself become distracted with playing Princess and trying to rescue Tempest Shadow from herself. Maybe the right thing to do is go back to being my old self. Find the others, locate Scootaloo, and get them all back home safely. That's what I'd do -- the old me, the Book Pony. That's what matters here.

She started to reach for the toy. Then she stopped herself.

And if I do that, she thought, I'll never be able to wear this crown again. Because I'll know that I don't deserve it... that I'm unworthy to be the Princess of Friendship.

She sighed. She'd just have to trust in her friends, hope they were out finding Scootaloo... while she focused on the task at hoof.

Luckily the rope ladder was still there. The others must have used it to climb out. She climbed out herself, and then set out determinedly across the tabletop, heading for the Audience Hall set.

Time to Princess up, she thought grimly. I'm going to make friends with that toy if it kills me!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Having finished looking through the pile of packages, the other ponies had moved on to checking through the rows of storage tubs again, just to be sure. And now, wandering further across the table, they'd come across two other items of interest amongst the canyon-like maze of supplies and part boxes.

One was a scale model of Pinkie's mega-sized Easy-Bake Confetti-Cake Party Cannon... a working model, as Pinkie delightedly confirmed, after clambering up to have a look down the huge barrel.

The other, farther on, was a stack of sketches and drawings, and a pile of notebooks. Most of the drawings were designs for the models and sets. And the notebooks contained dogeared-and-stickied treatments and scripts for the filmmaker's work. One notebook in particular was spread open on the table. A quick glance confirmed it was a shooting script, for the section of the Movie the filmmaker was currently working on.

And paging through it, Rainbow quickly made a disturbing discovery.

"This doesn't look right," she said. "The ending of this thing has been completely rewritten. Tempest gets blown away in the wind... Twilight loses... and the Storm King wins and takes over Equestria!" She stamped the page angrily with her hoof. "Hey! You can't do that to Twilight! That's not how the story goes!"

"I already didn't like that filmmaker very much," Rarity said. "So uncooth! But now I don't like him at all!"

"Takes all kinds, I guess," Applejack allowed. "But what kind of sick, twisted soul would want the Storm King to win?"

"And Twilight to lose?" Fluttershy added.

"Wait just a moment!" Rarity said, putting on her work-glasses. "The handwriting on this last section is entirely different!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie said. "It looks like my recipe notebook when I'm in a hurry... all kind of scribbly and small!"

"Yer plum right, Pinkie! Huh -- looks like a toy wrote that."

Rainbow's eyes went wide. "The Storm King!" she shouted. "He's rewritten the ending so he wins, and Twilight and Tempest go over the edge! He's setting Twilight up! We gotta get back there and warn her!"

Comments

[Weirdly Normal Human]

Ooo... This is getting interesting...