Eclipse Bane

by Nightwing

Take to the Skies

Night has fallen. Or, more appropriately, the sun had set. Raising the stars and the moon would be suicidal for Luna to even attempt with the entire military of Equestria after her, not to mention the assassins that were once Luna's friends. Pinkie's cries had ceased. She was dreadfully silent, her mane having lost it's poofy joy, reverting to a saddened, conflicted straight pink mane. The four gathered around the pink mare, all remaining silent. It was Pinkie who broke the silence.

"Please, let me help you," she pleaded to the lunar Princess. The pain in Pinkie's ocean blue eyes pierced straight into Luna's heart, but the Princess wouldn't dare putting even more responsibility like that onto the broken mare.

"Pinkie Pie, after what has happened, it would be cruel of me to force anything else onto your conscience." Luna regretted putting down Pinkie even more.

"There has to be something I can do. Please, can't you think of anything?"

Luna ran out of words to say, nothing she could bring herself to state and put Pinkie into even further pain, but a stallion's voice lightened the mood.

"I think I know how she can help." Big Macintosh smiled compassionately as he turned his head to the buildings of Appleloosa not too far away.

******

Deep inside the Everfree Forest, where not even the brightest days of Celestia's sun would pierce the thick canopy. A small clearing by a crystal-clear river, the air filled with the sounds of water trickling through masking the quiet sobs of a young, tormented filly.

Her coat a deep orange and her mane a beautiful purple, Scootaloo wept quietly at the river's shore, her tears joining the running stream as they fell. The lonely night added further pain. She opened her violet eyes, staring into the river as she watched another of her own tears drop into the clear, tranquil water. The only light in the area came from a glowing stone that gave off a blue light she wore around her neck, a gift from a friend. Quite possibly the most important friend...

"I'm a coward," the filly told herself. "A weak coward. Just like she said." The more she beat herself, the more the tears kept falling. "I'm so pathetic..."

Scootaloo continued to cry, her wings, which had never once let her fly before, draped at her sides. The glowstone around her neck continued to glow, making every tear shine like a blue sapphire. Her cries were suddenly interrupted as she heard a thump behind her and the flapping of wings. She gasped quietly and held back tears, shutting her eyes tightly out of sheer terror.

"Finally found you," a voice all too familiar to Scootaloo told her. That voice held special meaning to the filly. the one who gave her the glowstone in the first place. Her idol, Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo turned around, the streaks of tears down her eyes still shining. "S-Stay away from me, Dash! I'm not going with you!"

Dash, with her new black-to-white mane, clad in her silver chestplate, pauldrons, and wingblades, maintained a predatory smirk on Scootaloo. Her slit-shaped eyes scanned over her tiny frame. "You know you can't escape me, chicken. Give up and come with me, or I'll be glad to remove those useless wings of yours." The corrupted Dash chuckled darkly at her sick threat. "Still wearing that piece of trash around your neck? It isn't even worth anything good."

Scootaloo gritted her teeth as she tried to hold back further tears in the face of her former spiritual sister, cupping a hoof over the glowstone. "I know that Rainbow Dash gave this to me. Of course it doesn't mean anything to you, you aren't Dashie!"

"I'm gonna break a lot more than your wings for that, kid." Dash took a step forward, Scootaloo immediately breaking into a frenzied gallop away, making her way downstream.

Dash immediately gave chase, using her wings to lift herself from the ground and keep a streamlined pace after Scootaloo, who panted loudly as she ran as fast as she could, darting into the trees to keep Dash off of her tail. The glowstone was the only thing besides the dim, blank sky providing light, the dark paladin's vision obscured of oncoming obstacles, slowing her pace slightly and giving Scootaloo the chance to speed up.

"When Celestia's finished with you, I'm gonna kill you, brat!" Dash became more infuriated as her flight was further impeded by unseen treebranches, struggling to fly past Scootaloo's jagged running through the trees. The younger pegasus was running slower, her legs beginning to give way as fatigue set in. She couldn't run for much longer, and if she didn't tip the scale to her advantage, Dash would catch her.

Scootaloo took the chance, taking a sharp turn right through the dark, dense forest. She couldn't watch but she did hear a loud crash and Dash shout out in pain and anger. Scootaloo dared to turn her head to the sound, and in the faint light of the bright glowstone and dim, starless sky, she saw that her pursuer had crashed into a large tree and was grounded.

Dash let out a frustrated roar and began chasing her on hoof. Scootaloo could see a faint light just ahead and ran faster, her legs feeling like they were nearly about to shatter. Dash was hot on her tail, growling with a slightly damaged left wing. Not enough to put her out of comission for too long, but enough to keep her from flying as she chased Scootaloo.

The orange filly broke through the trees, the faint light of the dawn beaming over the horizon in the distance as she arrived at a steep waterfall, the end of the river she had been following. A dead end, and Dash, a slightly injured, yet physically superior pegasus directly behind her.

"Don't come any closer!" Scootaloo barely managed to shout between deep pants of exhaustion. Dash merely glared with rage, slowly approaching her.

"I'll jump!"

"You can't."

"I'll do it!"

"You're gonna kill yourself? I don't think you can, brat."

Dash continued to approach the vulnerable Scootaloo, the filly's hooves right on the edge of the cliff. There was no other choice. Either a swift death to be found at the bottom of the cliff, or a slow, heartbreaking torture at the hooves of one that she loves. Scootaloo leapt from the cliff.

Dash gasped as the filly jumped. Without working wings, she was certain to die. She stomped angrily, not in regret for letting her die, but because Celestia would be angry for not capturing her alive. She would have chased after her and caught her if her wing wasn't injured from that crash. She couldn't do anything now except turn and make her way back to the Palace.

Scootaloo closed her eyes as she barreled straight towards the ground. She couldn't help but recall her most treasured memories in the plummet. It seemed like an eternity, but she accepted her fate, taking her final moments to remember.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash! Wait up!" Scootaloo happily called out to her "soul-sister", wearing a wide smile on her face, running straight up to her. Rainbow Dash was happy to see her little Scoots, ruffling up the filly's mane with her hoof, giggling.

"Happy birthday, Scoots!" Dash nuzzled against her little pal, both giggling happily. "Hey, I got you a present."

Scootaloo grinned and squealed with excitement and happiness, hopping up and down. "Dashie, you didn't need to get me anything, hanging out with you is twenty percent cooler than any gift!"

Dash giggled again. Scootaloo would use the twenty percent thing whenever she could around Rainbow Dash. The older mare sifted through a small bag, drawing a tiny crystal bound by a string by her teeth, carefully placing it around her neck. The stone glowed with a bright blue light when Scootaloo touched it, gasping.

"Whoa, Dash... This is really cool! Thank you so much!"

"Heheh, happy birthday, kiddo. Don't let anypony tell ya that you can't do anything. You can fly higher than anypony."

The two exchanged a loving, sisterly embrace, both with wide, happy smiles.

Scootaloo dared to open her eyes, but she wasn't staring at a rapidly-approaching ground. She instead saw the sunrise directly in front of her. She gasped with amazement and looked at her sides. Her wings were unfurled. She was flying.

Scootaloo smiled widely, laughing and cheering with excitement and happiness. "I'm flying! I'm really flying! Woohoo!"

The sun was beginning to rise as Scootaloo continued her flight. The feeling was simply amazing. The wind beneath her wings, the sensation of her mane being brushed by the air, the knowledge of being able to go anywhere. She couldn't help but roll and flip in the sky, flying high above the ground she was so close to death with. Cheering loudly, she was far from the Everfree Forest, arriving in the vast, desert canyons. Her wings would carry her wherever she wishes.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Scootaloo is best pony. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAQImMg3wAo&feature=watch_response

Comments

[Nightwing]

If this chapter seems slightly rushed, I apologize. It's been a while since I uploaded a chapter.

[ty500600]

203231 Gah! Yay, I love it when stories make Scoots fly! But, anyway. Don't rush your material because you haven't released anything in a long period of time. Quality over quantity, remember that. True fans will wait until the cows come home for your story, like me! Whilst I did enjoy the chapter, I'm just letting you know that I would rather see one solid chapter than see two okay chapters in the same period of time.

[Nightwing]

203243

D'awwh, I do my best. Thank you for the support, I really appreciate it (especially since I'm already a big fan of yours ). I'll keep putting my best effort into this story! And of course, Scoots is an awesome pony. She totally deserves flight!

[Nightwing]

New cover art is done by Taranasaurus0.0

Go check out his page for epic stories. NOW!

[Festus]

I agree, Scootaloo is best pony! Next to Octavia, I always daydream about her! Shouldn't have said that

[Nightwing]

305455
You shouldn't have done that.
zeldawiki.org/images/thumb/b/bb/MM_HappyMaskSalesmanChuckle.png/577px-MM_HappyMaskSalesmanChuckle.png

[Festus]

307252 Sorry, I don't really understand the meme, Drowning something, right? I dunno, the only thing I DO know is that it has something to do with Legend of Zelda.

Well, at least they weren't wet dreams, right? Although, Octavia's plot does look... SWEET CELESTIA! Brain, shut up!

[Nightwing]

308782

If you really want to find out... Read this article.

And WHAT IS YOUR DAMAGE, YOUNG MAN?! ... ... > But you're right about Octavia... <

[Festus]

309372
Crap, that was scary... but fun!

[Razamafoo]

What Shipping is this?