After finding herself trapped within the ruins of an older pony society, Scootaloo is taught that all things are temporary.
Time. Time is what you need, it is such a prolonged quickness. We need time to heal, we need time to die. Time will free us from its own prisons. All things are temporary. Even Death. Prologue A comedic start for a serious story, if you don't like the prologue I still encourage that you give the other chapters a chance. Light or Flight Where the seriousness begins. Scootaloo wakes to find herself in the caverns, trying to figure out what is going on. In The Dust Scootaloo explores. Different Perspective introduced. Perdition Introduction to the city. Grieving Just a side part of the story that shows that her disappearance is affecting others.
Warning: This is just a comedic start for a serious story, please do not judge the entire story based on this prologue. Please, if you don't like comedy or humor, or if this just isn't your humor, skip this chapter, I'm sure you can figure out what it leads up to in the second chapter.
The day was bright, shining warmth all over the new spring that had dawned over the village as Winter Wrap Up had finished. The land was filled with pegasi flying free as they should through the brisk cool air. All but poor Scootaloo had set their hooves off the ground. She, along with her Crusaders friend had nothing to do on this fine day.
Nothing, but to annoy Rarity.
“Ugh! Sweetie Belle, can’t you take your friends and go crusading somewhere else? I need to fill this order in tonight and I still don’t have the gems I need to finish it,” complained Rarity, attempting to sew more padding into the fine, feathery pink and black dress.
“Maybe we could help you get the gems?” spit Sweetie Belle, jumping with her friends, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Gem Finders!”
“Well, I’m sorry fillies, it’s just too dangerous with all those diamond dogs out there, besides I need Spike to dig up the gems. Do any of you have the claws to dig into the rough dirt and get them for me?” They all shook there heads in unison.
“Maybe we could go get Spike for ya?” asked Applebloom, a disfigured smile on her face.
“Oh, I suppose you cou-”
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Dragon Poachers!”
“Wait, what?” The three fillies darted out the door before an answer was to be given.
They ran out that door and into the streets of Ponyville, struggling onto Scootaloo’s scooter due to the harsh speed that they gathered. Sweetie Belle had tripped, scraping her hind hooves. But she did not care, for crusading was her mission. Scootaloo started her scooter, of which had grown rusted from the snow of last winter from her not covering it up. They sped slowly down the street, about half as fast as they could run.
“This ain’t getting us nowhere!” shouted Applebloom, an aggressive pulse inside her demanding herself off the scooter.
“Come on, we got to get Spike!” demanded Sweetie Belle, jumping off the scooter.
“Oh ah uh...” the confused filly spurted.
“Are you coming?” Sweetie Belle directed from down the road.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed, abandoning her scooter in a safe spot, next to a pile of trash. They wouldn’t need it, as Ponyville is not a very large town.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
A voice confronted back, “Spike, get the door! Spike, get the bucking door!” Twilight continued to call his name for the door several more times.
His claws screeched against the metal, as if he were digging his claws into it on purpose. Spike swished the door open, causing an utter halt in Twilight’s calling of his name.
“Hi Spike!” the three yelled in unison, “Rarity wanted us to get y-” The dragon took off immediately as the unicorn’s name was mentioned to have need of him. The fillies chased after him, leaving the door to the library open.
A lone squirrel found its way to the door of the library. It was rugged, shagged fur, and fluffy ears, along with its wing flaps. It was a beautiful squirrel, its blue eyes sparkled beauty into anypony who looked deep into them. This was a special squirrel it was no ordinary squirrel, this squirrel would take a very important part in the years to come, perhaps not in this story, or perhaps it would.
“Eek!” Twilight screamed, sighting the squirrel attempting to enter her library. She ran, frightened of the small creature’s stereotypical disgustingness, slamming the door in its face.
The Crusaders finally caught up to Spike, who had sprinted all the way to the Carousel Boutique. Well, more like right outside of it, passed out in a puddle of his own sweat and filth.
“Ya think he ‘lright?” Applebloom asked, poking his body with a stick she had picked up next to the shop.
“He’s still breathing,” Sweetie Belle said, grabbing Spike’s arm in an attempt to drag him inside the shop. “Want to help me out here?” Sweetie Belle directed to Scootaloo.
“Sure. Ah could use the exercise anyways.” Together they carried the scaled beast into the shop.
“Oh, Spike, my darling, what happened?” Rarity examined the seemingly unconscious dragon.
Spike tried to form words, only to pronounce feeble mumblings like a mad pony.
“You did good, girls.”
“Does that mean we can come with?” Sweetie Belle jumped excitedly, expecting a ‘yes.’
“Well...” Rarity stalled, creating a frown upon the faces of the fillies. “I suppose so.”
The fillies jumped with delight, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Gem Collectors!”
“But we have to wait for Spike to come out of... whatever you put him under...” Rarity reminded, not even giving another glance to the dragon.
He mumbled some more, some things about Rarity and him being together, and some things about a lone weed in a garden of beautiful flowers.
“Sweetie Belle, would you be so kind to wake up the poor dear?” said Rarity, nudging hints towards a bowl of water, not far from the table where she had lain various fabrics and glitter.
Her sister walked over, grasping the bowl with her mouth and headed over towards Spike’s body, splashing him with the liquid. Spike awoke slowly, wondering to himself if this was his own fluid.
“Wh-What’s going on?” Spike rose into confusion.
“Oh nothing, Spike, we’re just going to head out into the scary gem fields, I’m sure we won’t need your help though, unless... you want to...” Rarity swayed herself closer to the now conscious dragon, continuing her attempts to seduce him to come along. “Don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine. I really just hope those Diamond Dogs don’-”
“Diamond Dogs?” Spike jumped up, right to her side. “So, when we heading out?” The fillies rejoiced. Applebloom and Scootaloo sprinted out the door to gather their Crusader’s capes.
They returned in a swift few minutes, sweating and panting when they arrived. They had already placed their capes on, trading Sweetie Belle’s over as soon as they could.
“Y-ya’ll ready to go find us some gems?” Applebloom asked, still panting.
“Well, we are, but are you two fillies? I suppose we could just go on-”
“No!” They all yelled united, as if they had wired brains.
“Let’s get going!” Sweetie Belle bolted out the door, gathering Applebloom onto her back and continuing onward towards the gem fields.
The land was flat, mounds and holes everywhere, but relatively flat compared to the lands surrounding. Every crevice filled itself back with dirt and water, giving off sparkles for anypony who came within a certain distance of its latent glamour.
Rarity’s horn lit up into a light blue, tracking gems in the area. She followed the pulling of her horn. Spike stayed close behind her, the fillies did the same with Spike.
“Ah bet Ah can find dem gems before ya’ll!” Applebloom took off.
“Hey wait!” Rarity yelled out, only for Applebloom to ignore her completely.
“Oh! I think I see some over there!” Sweetie Belle darted in another direction. “I’ll get some before you, Scootaloo!”
“Girls, wait!” Rarity stomped her hoof.
“You’re on!” Scootaloo shot herself towards a cliffside.
“Girls, come back!” None of them listened, leaving Spike and Rarity alone together.
“I guess it’s just you and me-”
“Don’t touch me”
Scootaloo ran as if her life were in the balance, as if this challenge was her parents or her ability to fly. It was the challenge that she longed for in life, not an easy one.
She found herself along the side of a hill, which was rugged due to a landslide that had occurred not too long ago. Part of the terrain stood out, sparkling with specks of green. She headed herself directly for it, determined to beat her friends.
“Ha!” She celebrated, even though she wasn’t sure if the others had found some gems already, cancelling this win for herself. She leaned herself in to dig the gems out with her hooves. The surrounding rocks made the gem almost unobtainable, causing anger in the orange filly. She retaliated with kicks from her hind hooves, rattling the ground beneath her.
The land rumbled beneath her, breaking and sending her into the depths. Rocks fell down, covering the hole, enclosing her into this newfound tomb. Small stones fell upon her head as she attempted to get out of the confusion. Darkness overtook, and she fell into a forced slumber.
Scootaloo awoke, after hours submerged in the darkness. Confused and weakened, she attempted to grasp the reality in front of her.
She found herself in darkness, only darkness. There was no sight for her to have in this area, only blindness. The walls could only be felt. The entire place smelled of wretched death and disturbed rests.
“Help!” She screamed, unable to accept that nopony was around when she fell to hear her screams, but she continued to scream, “Help, please!” Scootaloo fluttered her wings frantically, expecting this time, out of all the others, that she would finally fly. It did nothing more than bend and make her feathers dirty.
How long will I be down here? She thought, staring straight up to where she assumed she had fallen from.
She paused, halting her wings from ruffling her feathers any longer.
You can’t give up, Scootaloo! Rainbow Dash would never give up, and neither can you!
She tried again, this time clinging herself to what felt like a wall of the cave, grasping each grippable part she could find on the wall. Her feathers bristled together with such force that her wings felt as if they were on fire. She inflicted great pain, stress, and sadness in herself with this attempt. Scootaloo fell, crashing into her right wing.
Crack.
There it was, the acute pain sending her into a panic. “Ow!” Scootaloo screamed, grabbing her wing, placing her hoof on it to ease the pain with pressure.
You can do this! You are a pegasus, ruler of the sky!
And again, she tried, even under the pain of her wing, climbing the wall of the cave, only to fall down once again. But this time... She would not be able to try again... With her defeat, she cried lonely tears, tears that would not be heard, would not be seen, would not be felt. She cried for hours, rejecting the darkness, and then she once again, fell into slumber.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo greeted, trying to keep up with her role model.
“Hey, Squirt, what do you want?” Rainbow landed on the ground, prepared to listen to the orange pegasus.
“Oh, nothing... I just thought we could maybe spend the day together. Sweetie Belle is helping Rarity and Applebloom is stuck with chores so...”
“Sure, Squirt. I can cut some time out of my practice for you.”
“You really mean it?” Scootaloo jumped in excitement.
“Yeah, what do you want to do first, Scootaloo?”
“Uhh...” Scootaloo had been caught unprepared, probably expecting a “No” or for Rainbow to decide. “Could you...” she paused.
“Could I what?”
“Could you maybe teach me how to fly...?”
“You sure?”
“I mean, anything is fine with me, just as long as I’m doing it with you, Dash,” Rainbow blushed, her cyan face warmed with emotions.
“I guess I can try but I’ve never been one for a teacher, it just came naturally for me,” Scootaloo gave a brief frown, thinking the obvious. “I’m not prepared to teach you anything today. How about tomorrow, a whole day with the awesomest pony in Equestria teaching you how to fly. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great, but I have some crusading to do in the morning with the others.”
“Good. I’ll get some time for shut eye.”
They said their goodbyes, and off in their own ways they went.
She awoke, hoping with all her faith that she would be back in her bed, that she would be back in her home, that she would have ponies there to be with her, but this would not happen. Darkness enveloped as quick as her eyes had opened. Again, she was blinded in a world of sight.
Her fur had become drenched from the moisture, filthy from all the dirt, grime, and bugs that inhabited the cave. She could not see it for herself, but Scootaloo’s mane had started to darken. But this world was without sight, and for that she was still beautiful.
It was uncertain of why Scootaloo decided to start walking, as it had only been one night. She hugged, what she believed to be the cave wall, and walked along with it.
Hours passed, the cave was unending, unmorphed, flat as if water or ice had once held great pressure inside this cave, but where did it all go? Scootaloo didn’t wonder, as she was more of the athletic type than the thinking. She was tired after all the walking, and sleep would take over her precious mind, usurping her from reality.
“She has nowhere to go!”
“She has to, everypony has someplace to go...”
“This one is different, this one is alone.”
“Look at her, Charger, she’s a beautiful pegasus... We can take her in, she can be-”
“I know you want your own little pony, but we can’t... She isn’t ours, we can’t take care of some non-blood in this family!”
“There are a few things in life that you just can’t say no to. This foal is one of those... We can’t leave it in the cold...”
“Leave it, somepony else will take it... She is not our burden to bare.”
Scootaloo awoke in tears, she had this dream before, or at least forms of this dream. Ponies looking at her as a foal, not wanting her, looking at her as if she was diseased. It was her worst nightmare, being alone.
She lifted her head, scanning the darkness as if she had forgotten it was all around her, as if this was the nightmare and the dreams were reality. This time was different, she saw a bright light down the cave.
Crystals, a whole heap of them, shining bright, purple right into Scootaloo’s pupils. It was little hope, but it was the only clear hope to her.
She started into a sprint for the crystals, light was her objective, and light was right in front of her. She ran her little heart out, a mere 30 minute straight sprint, a slow one at that. The crystal was not that far from her now, she would not give up on this.
It came closer and closer, when eventually it was right in front of her eyes. They were risen a great feet above the ground, shadowing over Scootaloo had they not been a light source.
A head poked around the crystals, it seemed frightened of Scootaloo, shooting it’s head back behind the obstacle.
“Hello?” Scootaloo called, uncertain if it was an illusion placed by her nearly broken mind.
Rarity’s horn glowed a bright, light blue aura, dragging her towards the nearest gems. Spike followed closely behind, ready to sneak a snack of rubies that they had dug up earlier.
“Here.”
Spike dug his claws straight into the ground that Rarity had deemed to be abundant with jewels. The hole was not deep when Spike reached the first gem, a rugged sapphire. He picked it up, giving it to Rarity.
“Good job, Spike!” Rarity cheered, encouraging the dragon to dig faster. No luck, the deposit carried only that sapphire.
“Rarity, shouldn't we wait for the fillies?”
“Not now, Spike! You have a job to do. You can eat your share later” Rarity said, paying no attention to what he had actually said.
Sweetie Belle came running with a large emerald in her mouth, panting from the long run, she struggled to communicate. “I-I did it...” She dropped the emerald, trying to catch her breath.
Rarity turned around, gasping at the large gem. “Good job, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity gave her sister a hug, squeezing the filly. She gathered up the gem, putting it in her pack.
“D-Did I... beat them?”
“You sure did!” Spike sneaked a ruby fragment into his mouth.
“Here.”
Once again, Spike dug into the firm rock. This time the deposit gave way to several gems of various types: rubies, sapphires, emeralds, onyx, and diamond. This continued for quite a few more deposits.
Applebloom came back gemless. Her face was in a frown due to her loss in the competition. Her hooves were covered in dirt, cuts, and scrapes all the way down from her body.
“Appleboom!” Sweetie Belle ran for her friend, “You alright?” She put her hoof around Applebloom, trying to support the tired pony’s weight.
“Y-Ya... Ah’m alright, Sweetie Belle,” she began a slow, tired pace towards the central area that they were grouped at.
“Here,” Rarity said once more, clearly ignoring the filly that needed attention.
“W-When we going back?” Applebloom panted, wanting to go get rest.
“Soon as Rarity has her gems, I figure.”
“Will that ever happen?”
“No,” Spike interjected. The fillies let out their chuckled laughter with one another.
Hours passed, and Scootaloo had yet to return. Rarity had collected a bountiful amount of gems, a large portion already ate by Spike. The night grew over the day, sending the cold air across the lands of Equestria as always.
Spike’s claws began to ache, they had dwindled down to nothing but bare scales, the gem hunt had come to a forced cancellation against Rarity’s whim.
Rarity sighed, “Alright girls,” she placed the last gem back into her already filled pack. “We best be getting you all home.”
Sweetie Belle gave a confused look. “But...”
“But what?”
“Scootaloo still isn’t back.” Rarity’s eyes widened, realizing her responsibilities as a foalsitter had been a failure.
Scootaloo jumped at the voice, believing it was just a figment of her imagination. She walked closer to where she believed this mysterious voice to come from, seeing the silhouette with a strange green background flash for a mere second. Scootaloo rubbed her eyes, making sure this was not a mirage.
“Hello?” she asked again.
“Yes, who’s there?”
“M-My name... my name is Scootaloo...”
“Scootaloo? Nice to meet you, my name is Coal Dust,” The pony emerged, or tried to. The crystal’s glare blocked most physical features from being describable. She appeared to be tall, not a mare but just under the age of being accepted as one. Her fur and mane all appeared to be black and shaggy.
“I’ve never heard of a Scootaloo ‘round here before, you new?”
“Ye-yes, I don’t exactly know where I am exactly.”
“You don’t know?” Coal Dust moved turned towards the crystal, her now showing face had been covered in dirt and other filth, hence her name. “You’re in the outskirts.”
“Outskirts?” Scootaloo spurted, confused.
“Yeah, outskirts of Perdition.” Scootaloo’s stomach rumbled. “Come on, you must be hungry.”
“You have any apples on you?”
“‘Fraid not.”
“I-It’s alright...”
“Ya sure? City shouldn’t be too far from ‘ere.” Coal Dust spit into the ground. “We don’t got much apples, but we sure got us the best food you’ll ever find in our land.”
“Well, I suppose company would be better than before...”
“Great!” Coal Dust leaned down for a hug, only for Scootaloo to not even notice due to her eyesight being blurred by darkness. “Follow me, they’ll be really happy to see a new face in the city, at least I hope they will.” Coal Dust went off in the city’s direction, barely waiting on Scootaloo to process and react.
Rarity was crying, unable to grasp the situation fully. Scootaloo’s disappearance was on her hooves, nopony elses. The guilt was killing her as she sat waiting for Twilight in the library.
“I was just so caught up with my work!” Rarity whined.
“It’ll be okay, Rarity, we’ll find her.” Twilight reassured, thinking of the dangers the gem field has held in the past.
“What if the Diamond Dogs got her? Scootaloo couldn’t handle them!”
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash barged into the library, unable to close the door after entering. “Scootaloo can take on any challenge she tries!”
“Rainbow, I know you have every statistical reason to believe in Scootaloo, but we don’t know where she is anyways. Even the strongest ponies need to get out of the cold.”
Spike, who was divulging himself in gems from the book ladder, finally spoke up. “Have any of you even checked if she went home yet?”
Rarity’s head rose. “Uhh... No...”
“Don’t you think you should have?” Twilight smirked.
“Dashie, be a dear and check the house for the girl, I’d do it myself but-” Rainbow Dash bolted out the door, never speaking a word.
“I’m sure she’s fine, Rarity, you’ll have nothing to worry about. Just go home, rest, and we’ll figure it all out by noon.”
“Oh, Alright.” Rarity started for the door. “Spike,” he turned his attention towards the diva. “Thank you for your time this evening, I really hope I got enough gems to make it worth losing...” Twilight slammed the door.
“Well, you best be heading to bed, Spike. I got a lot of studying to do, night!” Twilight headed upstairs, leaving Spike with his feast of gems.
They had trotted for over an hour, miles had been crossed and still they had not reached the so called city of Perdition. The gates rose from the darkness, blacker than black. The city was a shadow in a world without light, or so it seemed. Scootaloo rubbed her eyes, unsure what she was exactly seeing. Focus came back to her, and the city formed into its vague spirit.
They walked closer to the black gates, or as Coal Dust had called them earlier on the walk over, The Barriers. She never specified why they were called that to Scootaloo, this doubtful world had nothing so far that Scootaloo could find as harmful enough that they required a barrier from.
“Welcome, Scootaloo, to the great city under the eye!” Coal Dust said, pointing towards a giant reflective object hovering over the city in its own crystallized tower. It seemed to be the light source for the entire darkened city, collecting, perhaps even generating light from the tiniest of crevices in the cave ceiling. “Come, come.” Coal Dust insisted, rustling herself towards the gates.
The gates were not handled by anypony. They were bare of any life. Coal Dust walked straight up to them, their hazed form denouncing no answer to her hoofsteps.
“You sure anyponies here, Coal?” Scootaloo asked, shivering from the moisten air.
“Blister, you up there?” An answer followed its way back.
“Just a second!” The veiled pony throw out, hurrying his way to open the gates. It took only a few seconds for the gears to start rolling, grinding each other creating loud screeches. Scootaloo covered her ears, unable to block it out entirely.
They had opened, conceding the city in front of her eyes. It was as beautiful as it could be for a city under the ground. It was large, streets casting for miles never ending in a giant semicircle. At the end of a city strutted a giant wall, forming itself as a dome around the city, hiding what was beyond the other half of this semicircle structure. In the middle of this great wall sat the reflecting tower, dug into the foundation, devising a perfect sphere missing right where it laid itself.
Scootaloo sat in awe, unable to speak at the architectural genius put into the city, the carvings, the art, the ambience. Coal Dust was forced the break her trance. She shook the filly out of it, enabling their journey to continue further. She took the hoof of Scootaloo, helping her off her flank and into the gloriousness ahead of them.
“Ain’t it a beaut?” Coal Dust asked, just as she got Scootaloo inside finally.
“I-It sure is!” she declared back, examining the populace. The locals seemed to all be like Coal Dust. They roamed the streets in groups, not one alone, but never in too big of numbers. Their bodies were shadowy, dusty, and lanky. The society was just as they seemed, ordinary in their own way, resembling the others through basic appearance. You could only tell them apart had they been bathing the darkness away, or if you got close enough to identify facial features.
“Come on, let’s get ya something to eat, girl.” Coal Dust headed off in her own direction, leaving Scootaloo little time to realize she had to keep up or get lost.
She was unsure where they were headed, nor was she sure they were actually going somewhere. The roads were at the bottom of a cityscape valley, the structures hovering high above the roads, inhabiting many ponies for hospitality.
Coal Dust halted herself abruptly next to what seemed to be a market area. There was stands that held products and clothed roofs to keep them protected against the elements, just like the ones above ground. The place scattered around with various plants that seemed unlike the equestrian foods above this underdome. Some glew green, some were as black as night, and some seemed to be living creatures, moving about as if they were pets. She walked herself over to a peculiar stand, one filled with black apple-like fruits.
“You want some?” Scootaloo nodded her head, only interested in the familiar shape. Coal Dust laid down a few bits, grabbing two of the fruits from the stand and walked away with Scootaloo. “We call ‘em keeches.” They sat down, chomping on the keeches, savoring each sweet particle it had to offer. “Tomorrow, guess I’ll just show you the city, seems like you’ll be staying with us for some time. Ya ready?”
“For what?” Scootaloo was confused, unable to comprehend the full question.
“You’re coming home with me. I’m sure my ma won’t be upset. You’ll be just like a puppy.” She laughed. Coal started off once again, never waiting on Scootaloo to prepare herself for the trot.
Her home was that of the rest, exactly identical, only way to tell them apart was by the way they curved with the street. Upon opening the door and walking in, they found nopony home right away.
“Ma!” Coal Dust yelled, “I’m home!” The house was small, but furnished with a balance theme. Noises arose from upstairs, the hoofsteps of her mother coming down to greet her. She popped out, another dust covered pony.
“Hi, sweety!” She hugged her daughter, squeezing her tight before she could even notice Scootaloo’s presence. “How’s the gathe-”
“Oh, yeah, this is Scootaloo, I found her while out on the job.”
“Sweety... You know...” She leaned herself in with her daughter, hundling close and whispering against Scootaloo. She spoke not a word to interrupt this meeting, stood still in the entryway until they had finished.
“Alright... alright...” Coal Dust broke away. “We don’t got much room in here, looks like you’ll be staying in my room, I guess.” Coal Dust started around the corner, intercepting through the doorway to her room. It was filled with clusters of various things, messing up the beauty that was surely underneath it all.
“Don’t mind the bugs, they scare off the rats.” And with that, she laid down in her bed, leaving just enough space for the filly to slip in with. Scootaloo shut her eyes, attempting to sleep, but unable to for hours. Her mind was haunted by the thought of being stuck here forever, never to see her friends again.
