11 Short Dreams About Equestria

by FanficReader920

Dream #5: Mane Allgood

Author's Note:

Keep in mind, this takes place Pre-Season 9.

"You have the trap ready, darling?" a blonde-maned pegasus asked her husband, eyes trained firmly on their prize as it made its way onto dry land.

"She's all set and rarin' to go, love," her husband confirmed from behind her,

Cragadiles always proved to be a mighty foe for Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood, but the adventurers extraordinaire would take on any task, no matter the difficulty, for the one life that could be impacted by the service they provided, even parenthood.

"Alright, Scootaloo, when Mommy tells you, throw the rope at the crag’s snout, just like we practiced," Mane instructed.

The orange filly nodded in acknowledgement, the rope dangling from her mouth. She stared down the cragadile as though it would run away if she took her eyes off it for even a second.

"She's all yours, love." Snap trotted up behind his wife, signaling that the trap was all set for her to spring.

The family had engineered this maneuver down to a science. Snap would surprise the creature, his physical prowess making him uniquely able to wrangle it. Scootaloo would neutralize the creature by lassoing either its mouth or a dangerous appendage. Once father and daughter steered the creature into an awaiting containment unit, Mane would release the rope holding the door open at just the right moment, and gravity would do the rest.

Mane took her position behind the containment unit as Snap and Scootaloo disappeared into the brush, off to wrangle the family's find.

She had to admit, it had been a hard decision between leaving Scootaloo with Snap's sister, Holiday, or taking her with them on their globetrotting adventures, but after some time to recover from giving birth, she and Snap both agreed that once Scootaloo was able to walk on her own, they all would head back out together as a family.

She never regretted that decision once. Sure, it had its scarier moments, but seeing how much Scootaloo has blossomed into a capable young filly filled her with so much maternal pride that she couldn't see her doing anything else.

"Yes, you could," a deep voice that sounded suspiciously like Scootaloo whispered from somewhere behind her.

"Who's there?!" Mane asked, making a full turn of her body, but she found nopony there. She shivered and shook it off.

Sure, having her daughter around meant worrying about her safety sometimes, and her and Snap's line of work did come with some occupational hazards, but she wouldn't have traded the experiences the three of them had had together for anything in the world.

The voice entered Mane's ears, once more, but this time with a booming guffaw. "Oh, this is rich," the voice taunted between laughs. This time, Mane was getting annoyed.

"Alright, you two," she relented. "You got me, now come on out and take this seriously."

"What, like you took your job as a mother seriously?" the voice, now sounding exactly like her daughter, began booming into her mind as if it was coming from within her very skull. The pegasus took both her front hooves and placed them in her ears, which ended up being a fruitless effort to keep them safe from the sheer auditory intensity of the voice’s taunts.

Suddenly, she saw her daughter walk up to her from her left, which was weird since she just saw her leave with Snap into the brush in front of her about a minute or so ago. Only, this Scootaloo looked different. Sure, her coat was the same gamboge color, but instead of a combination of her own long locks, bound up in a rubber band, and the cerise of Snap's mane, this Scootaloo's mane was shorter. It was almost like if Snap's mane had been blown from behind his head to on top of it.

However, what really set the two apart was what was on their flanks. The Scootaloo that just left had a cutie mark that featured a compass sitting on the corner of a map, the perfect marriage of her husband's mark and her own. Yet, the Scootaloo standing before her had no such mark. In fact, she had none at all.

The taller mare went on the defensive, ready to pounce on the imposter at a moment's notice. At least, she thought it was an imposter. "Who are you, and what did you do to my daughter?"

The copy once again let out a thunderous laugh. "Did you know that all the kids in school call me an orphan?"

That was when everything clicked. The Scootaloo she was talking to right now was the real one. Mane and Snap actually did leave her with Holiday in Ponyville. So, the one she just saw leave...

"But that was never the worst part, I could handle that," her daughter explained. "The worst part was this." She pointed to her blank flank.

"Oh, sweetie..."

"I would go home, crying some days, after kids would tell me I'd never get my cutie mark, just wanting to be close to you," she said, each word more cutting than the last. "I wanted to feel my mother's touch, so that even though I faced that cruelty, I knew everything would be okay. You know what I got? Nothing!"

The jungle began fading away, night somehow setting in, until there was only Mane, her daughter, and a single tree that supported the containment unit for the cragadile illuminated by moonlight.

"Scootaloo, you know how important our work is for Equestria..."

"Oh, so is that an excuse for leaving your daughter to grow up parent-less?" Scootaloo fired back.

"You had Aunt Holiday!" Mane swore she could feel herself shrinking, the shame only increasing with each biting remark.

"It's not the same, and you know it."

She could feel tears beginning to leak. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"Sorry's not gonna help me now, is it?" Scootaloo went for the final blow. "What I needed was my mother, and you weren't there."

Mane crouched down, her hooves covering her head.

"You weren't there!" her daughter repeated, like the words would stab her in the back. "You weren't there!"

"Do not fret, Mane Allgood, for there is still time," a soothing voice echoed through the darkness.

"What?" Mane said, confused. She lifted herself back to her hooves, sniffling, to look for the new presence.

The moon suddenly let out a bright flash, and emerging from that flash was the Princess of the Night herself, landing just in front of her. As she did, the blank-flanked Scootaloo faded away.

"Princess Luna," Mane breathed. She began looking around with a new sense of perspective. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

"That you are, my little pony," Luna confirmed. "You are tormented by anxieties of how your absence in your daughter's life has affected her growth."

"Hit the crag right on the head." There wasn't much point in lying to a princess.

"While I won't lie to you and say it has been perfect, I've had the privilege of visiting young Scootaloo myself," Luna explained. "She has grown into a brilliant young mare. Beloved by many that call Ponyville home."

"That still doesn't change the fact she grew up without parents in her life," Mane countered, her gaze traveling to her hooves.

"Perhaps so, Mane Allgood," Luna admitted. "However, if you were to ask me, you had no other choice. Scootaloo has made so many friends in Ponyville. Friends she never would have made had she traveled with you and your husband."

Mane gave a small smile. "That ended up being the clincher for why we left her."

"You did what was best for your child," Luna assured. "No one can fault you for that. What's really causing your mind distress is that you want young Scootaloo in your life, is that correct?"

Mane faced the Princess once more. "Yes," she admitted. "I know it's selfish, but..."

"Cease," Luna interrupted. "There is nothing selfish about wanting to be a bigger part of your daughter's life."

"But how are we going to do that if Equestria needs us here?" the pegasus argued. "I don't want to let anyone else in Equestria down."

A moment of contemplative silence passed between the two.

"Tell me," Luna said at last. "How long is your current assignment expected to last?"

"Probably for another month or so, why?"

"Normally I wouldn't intervene with how one addresses conflicts in the real world," Luna prefaced. "However, due to your service to the nation of Equestria, I may be of some help in this situation."

Mane's eyes widened. Was the princess doing what she thought she was?

"I'll put in a good word with your department to ensure your next assignment will be to a place where you are more able to give Scootaloo the care she needs," Luna promised.

Tears of joy now began to leak from the pegasus' eyes. "Thank you, Princess."

"For the mother of one of the finest young fillies I've ever met, it's the least I can do," Luna responded. "Would you like me to conjure up a new dream for you?"

Mane looked in the direction where she had seen Snap and the fake Scootaloo leave. "I think I'll stay with this one, aside from that version of Scootaloo coming in. I know that... this never happened, but I'd like to at least pretend it did. Just for the night."

Luna nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Very well. Pleasant dreams, Mane Allgood."

The creases of her horn lit up white as a flash of light encompassed Mane's vision before she found herself back in position, and just in time too, for from the brush emerged Scootaloo pulling a rope that had hit its mark around the cragadile's snout. Snap was even doing his part and holding the creature's tail in place to avoid it being used in defense.

"Get ready, Mom!" Scootaloo shouted.

Mane braced herself as Scootaloo made her way into the trap, the bars just big enough for her comparatively smaller body to squeeze through.

Once Snap placed the cragadile's rear on the floor of its cage, he dashed out of the door and Mane cut the rope holding the door up. Gravity did the rest.

With their objective accomplished, the family embraced in celebration.

"We did it!" Scootaloo shouted.

"We sure did, sweetie," Mane congratulated. "We sure did."

---

It was dreams like these that made Luna wish she'd tried her hand at being a parent. She always admired how they would go through Tartarus to ensure the well-being of their foal, even at the cost of their own physical or, in this case, mental well-being.

Luckily, she was fortunate to come across one of her little ponies where she was able to provide more than just sage advice. Contrary to her statement, she always relished the opportunity to throw a little royal power around to help, but only if it absolutely required it.

With no other spheres flashing around her, she was now able to return to her quest to find enticing stories for her sister.