Scootaloo’s talent
The sun was shining over Ponyville as the three Cutiemark Crusaders walked down the street, just entering sugarcube corner.
“Cheer up Scootaloo” Applebloom said, with hope to make her feel better.
“Yeah, you will get yours too, eventually” Sweetie Belle said. Scootaloo glanced at their cutiemarks with a sad look on her face.
“Yeah, eventually… I don’t know anything that could be my special talent. I don’t really have any talents, like, at all.”
“C’mon Scootaloo, of course you do, you just haven’t figured it out yet.” Applebloom said.
“We can still crusade, right? So I can get my cutiemarkark as well, I mean.” Scootaloo asked, trying not to sound annoyed, because it did annoy her. That they got their cutiemarks and she didn’t feel good. Even though she didn’t want to show it, she was sure her friends knew how she felt.
“Of course!” Sweetie Belle and Applebloom said at the same time.
Then she just remembered something.
“What time is it by the way?”
“Uh, just past five?” Applebloom answered, tilting her head to the left and looking at Scootaloo.
“I totally forgot I was supposed to hang out with Rainbow Dash this afternoon at five! Gotta rush, I’ll see you girls tomorrow, okay?” and with that she rushed out of the door and up the street.
“I really hope that she can get her cutiemark as well relatively soon, she can’t keep on being sad forever”
“Uh’uh” Applebloom agreed.
--
That night Scootaloo had difficulties falling asleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about her friends cutiemarks, and that she was the only one her age in Ponyville that didn’t have hers. It felt like she was the only one in the entire Equestria, but she couldn’t know that for sure. She finally fell asleep mumbling that she’d do anything for a cutiemark.
As soon as she fell asleep a dream appeared. Her friends stood in the middle of a circle of ponies, showing off their cutiemarks and everyone were in awe. Scootaloo was outside the circle, hiding from the crowd. But someone noticed her and started laughing, and within seconds everyone was laughing at her, including Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. The word “Blankflank” echoed in her head.
But suddenly the dream changed, and she found herself kneeling before Discord. He laughed for a while before he started talking.
“Well hello there, young Scootaloo. I couldn’t help but noticing you want a cutiemark more than anything, am I correct?” Scootaloo couldn’t say anything, so she just nodded.
“What if I told you that you have a cutiemark, you just haven’t realized it yet?
“What is that supposed to mean?” Scootaloo managed.
“You’re like me Scootaloo! You were meant to create chaos and disorder.”
“And just how would I do that?” Scootaloo asked, not too convinced by Discord’s words.
“I know your special talent. And I could tell you that talent if you swore to join me and create chaos.” “Ever since I promised to be good, I can’t create chaos, but you can.”
“How do you know what my talent is?” She asked, thinking about the deal.
“Your cutiemark shows it.” Discord said simply.
Scootaloo wanted a cutiemark more than anything, and she didn’t HAVE to create chaos, she had Twilight and their elements to protect her she thought. She could just tell them about it and stay protected.
“I accept your deal Discord, now show me what my talent is!”
--
“I haven’t seen Scootaloo for several days now, have you?” Sweetie Belle asked, clearly worried.
“Nope, last time I heard from her was that time at sugarcube corner” Applebloom said, also worried.
They’d been looking for her over the entire Ponyville, asking every mare and colt if they’d seen her.
“Have we asked Rainbow Dash? She was with her after she left, and maybe something happened.” It was Wednesday so they would all be with their pets in the park, on the other side of town.
“Hey that’s a good idea, Sweetie Belle!” “We’ll go at once”.
But on their way to the park, they passed sugarcube corner and heard a scream for help from inside. They darted in as fast as they could, just to see all the sweets on the counter being shoved down in a big brown bag. It was clearly not magic, partly because there was no glow surrounding it, and it wasn’t moving smooth.
“Stop right there” Applebloom shouted at the bag.
Whatever it was that packed the bag, froze for a couple of seconds, then the bag went out of the door, pushing Sweetie Belle and Applebloom to the side.
“Let’s follow it” Sweetie Belle said. Applebloom nodded and they ran after the bag. They didn’t want to be seen so they kept a safe distance, but they still had to run almost as fast as they could.
“Where do you think it’s headed?” Applebloom asked.
“It looks like *gulp* the everfree forest” Sweetie Belle said, noticeably afraid of the name.
“We have to follow it anyway, let’s go” and they kept running.
Shortly after the bag had gone into the everfree forest it suddenly stopped. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle hid in some bushes not too far from it, just within hearing range.
Then someone appeared next to the bag, it was an orange pony with a purple mane.
“SCOOTALOO?!” Applebloom shouted, without thinking about it she ran up to her friend.
“What are you doing? How did you do that? Where have you been?” She threw question after question without giving Scootaloo a chance to answer. Sweetiebelle put a hoof on Appleblooms shoulder to calm her down, and to let Scootaloo talk.
“It’s my destiny” Scootaloo said shortly and started to turn around, but Applebloom grabbed her and held her down, so she couldn’t move.
“Why did you steal those sweets?” Applebloom asked again, this time with a serious face.
“I told you, it’s what I’m meant to do. You wouldn’t understand”. She kicked away Applebloom and ran further in to the everfree forest.
“What has become of her?” Applebloom asked with tears in her eyes.
Sweetie Belle stood silent, without moving a muscle, and finally managed to say:
“Let’s go home”.
--
Back in Ponyville Sweetie Belle and Applebloom didn’t say anything, or do anything for the rest of the day. Their best friend had changed, and they didn’t know why. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Pinkie Pie came walking towards them and noticed their sadness.
“Is something troubling you two?” Twilight asked.
“Scootal…” Sweetie Belle couldn’t say more than that before Applebloom covered her mouth with a hoof.
“It’s nothing, really” Applebloom said and managed a fake smile.
“Oki doki loki” Pinkie Pie said and started jumping down the street again.
“Pinkie! Didn’t you notice she lied? Come back.” Twilight shouted after her.
“Oh” Pinkie Pie said, and jumped back to the two crusaders.
“So what has happened, girls?” Twilight asked, now with a bit more serious face.
“We lost Scootaloo” Sweetie Belle said, with tears flowing down her eyes.
“How do you mean lost? Is he lost somewhere or did she… die?” Twilight said the last part very quietly.
“She has become a bad pony, and we don’t think she wants to be our friend anymore” Applebloom said, also crying now.
“Did something happen between y’all fillies?” Applejack asked.
“We don’t know why she’s acting this way, we have no idea at all.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Let’s go talk some sense into her then, right girls?” Twilight said, looking back at Pinkie Pie and Applejack.
“Yeah” Applejack said, with a short nod.
“Oki doki loki” Pinkie Pie, still happy for some reason.
“Let’s get Rainbow, Rarity and Fluttershy first though, we don’t know if there’s something evil behind this.
They started walking away, but Sweetie Belle and Applebloom stopped them.
“Can we go with you?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“It’s our friend after all” Applebloom said.
Twilight looked at Applejack, and she nodded in response.
“Okay, but stay behind us” She said. “And be careful”.
--
“Wh-wh-why are we going to the ev-everfree forest again?” Fluttershy asked with her legs shaking.
“Scootaloo has changed, possibly by an evil force of some sort.” Twilight said.
“And we need to talk some sense into that filly” Applejack added.
“B-but why the everfree forest?” Fluttershy asked, still shaking.
“It’s where she was seen the last time, right girls?” Twilight said and looked at Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.
They nodded in response and so they all went into the everfree forest.
“Soo, where exactly is she then? I’ll go there first and talk with her. I want to know if something happened to her.” Rainbow Dash said, seemingly unhappy with the pace of the group.
“We don’t really know where she is, but she was about here when we saw her earlier.” Applebloom said.
“Great…” Rainbow Dash sighed.
“Easy Rainbow, we could always ask Zecora if she’s seen anything.” Twilight suggested.
“Could we at least go a bit faster?” Rainbow complained.
“A lady doesn’t run unless she’s in danger” Rarity said.
“Can you care for Scootaloo for a moment? She’s more important than your hair you know” Rainbow Dash said, not understanding Rarity’s reasoning at all.
“I guess we can pick up the pace a bit, can’t we?” Twilight said, giving Rarity a look saying “C’mon, don’t do this”.
“I guess I could” Rarity said. “But if I get sweaty, it’s your fault Rainbow.”
“Yeah, yeah whatever” Rainbow responded.
When they got close to Zecora’s hut they heard loud noises from inside. Rainbow Dash flew up to the window and looked inside. Zecora was sitting in the middle meditating and seemingly chanting something, which looked like a ritual. Things were being tossed around and shoved down from the shelves and walls. They entered the hut and Zecora noticed them, stopping her chanting for a moment.
“What’s going on here Zecora?” Twilight asked.
“I…” Zecora started before Applebloom interrupted her.
“It’s Scootaloo.” She said.
“Darling, if it was Scootaloo we would see her, right?” Rarity said, with a lady-like laugh.
“Not necessarily.” Sweetie Belle responded.
“Whatever do you mean, Sweetie?” Rarity asked her sister.
“She can go invisible.” Sweetie Belle said like it was obvious.
Everyone looked at her like she wasn’t serious, and she continued:
“It’s her talent I think.” Then she went quiet, like she didn’t want to talk about it.
“It would explain the cutiemark.” Twilight said.
“What do you mean?” Applejack asked, not the only one wondering what Twilight was talking about.
“I’ve read of it in one of my books, about supernatural cutiemarks, and it seems Scootaloo’s cutiemark is invisible, which indicates she can turn invisible if she’d want to.” “But these aren’t easily found out about, earlier ponies have found out about them when they’re in about our age, not when they’re fillies.” Twilight said, noticeably thinking really hard about this.
“That’s correct, I’m invisible, and it’s my destiny to keep causing chaos. It’s what my cutiemark is telling me.” Her voice revealed her position, and Applejack charged at her. But she skillfully dodged it and Applejack ran into a shelf.
“Don’t try to stop me, it won’t happen.” Scootaloo said, jumping through the window, disappearing into the forest.
“She has indeed changed” Rarity said.
“We have to do something, but what?” Twilight said, thinking out loud.
“Uhm, shouldn’t we like, tell the princess maybe?” Fluttershy said quietly.
“We’ll go in the morning. Make sure to get some rest now.” Twilight decided and they all agreed with a simple nod.
And so they left Zecora alone with her things scattered across the room, a broken window and a confused look on her face.
--
The next morning they all met up at the train station, where they would wait for the Canterlot train so they could see princess Celestia. While waiting for the train to arrive, Rarity noticed a newspaper stand just a few meters away. She bought one and read some headlines out loud for everyone:
“Burglar in Ponyville!” “Chaos returning?” “Unexplained events” “Ponyville in terror”
“Seems like someone has been busy.” she muttered.
“We have to stop her, she has no right to do this” Twilight said.
The train rolled in and the yelled:
“The train for Canterlot has arrived, take your seats!”
“Hurry up, we have no time to waste.” Said Rainbow Dash, and they all entered the train.
“Do we have any sort of plan for when we arrive?” Applejack asked.
“We have to talk to the princess about this, and to see if there’s something we can do to neutralize this power that Scootaloo has, and that’s all I can think of for now.” Twilight said, with worry in her voice. She hoped that the princess would have some sort of answer, because she was clueless herself. All last night was spent to read into the supernatural cutiemarks, but she learned nothing new of value. Now she could only hope.
When they arrived in Canterlot they went straight for the castle, and requested an audience with the princess. When they entered Celestias room, she was just heading out and they bumped into her.
“Twilight?” she asked with a confused look on her face.
“I’m so sorry princess, I didn’t mean to do that, we have an urgent emergency that you must know of!”
“What is going on here?” Celestia asked, now standing again.
“Scootaloo has a supernatural cutiemark, and is causing disharmony in Ponyville!” Twilight continued. “She can turn invisible and we don’t know how to stop her, we need your help!” Twilight looked pleadingly at princess Celestia.
“Calm down my little ponies, this does not sound like the Scootaloo I am familiar with. Has anything happened to her that you know of?” She asked, looking at every one of them.
“I was with her the last time she was “normal” and nothing really happened, we were relaxing at the water hole, and she was a bit stressed because she was late, but that’s all.” Rainbow Dash said, managing a faint smile looking back at that.
“Maybe it was during the night?” Fluttershy suggested. “Dreams can be horrible things.”
“But Luna controls the night and she wouldn’t let this happen.” Twilight said.
“I think I know what might’ve happened.” Celestia said with a blunt face. “Discord.”
“I thought we’d made him promise not to do evil anymore, didn’t we?” Applejack said.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Celestia said. “Follow me.”
So they followed Celestia to where Discord lived, and found him with his most innocent look on his face.
“Hello ponies! How lovely of you to visit me! Want some tea?” Discord said while pouring a cup of tea for himself.
“Do you know anything about Scootaloo’s sudden change in behavior?” Celestia asked, looking at him, trying to make him feel cornered.
“I don’t know what you are talking about, Celestia.” Discord said. “How in Equestria would I know that?”
“Discooord.” Fluttershy said, whilst giving him “the stare”.
Uncomfortably he shifted in his chair, and put down his cup of tea.
“I simply showed her the talent that she has.”
“You PROMISED not to do evil, remember that?” Rainbow Dash shouted at him.
“I haven’t done anything except to show her what she can do, what she did with the ability was her own decision.”
“For some reason I don’t believe that for one second.” Twilight said with a gloomy voice.
Discord’s eyes met Fluttershy’s who was deeply disappointed.
“I thought you had changed, Discord.” She said, starting to turn around.
The others started turning around too, until Discord told them to wait.
“I might’ve made her swear an oath to join me and spread chaos in my place.
“So how can we break this oath and make her stop?” Applebloom asked, stepping out from the back of the group.
“You would have to make her realize what she can do with her talent except for chaos, I suppose.” Discord said.
“We have to get back to Ponyville and talk some sense into her then.” Applejack said, leading them all out through the door.
--
When they all walked down the streets in Canterlot on their way to the train station
they saw something out of the ordinary. A fine glass salesman who was selling glass sculptures on the street was in shock.
“Is something wrong here?” Twilight asked when she saw his face expression.
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong, Twilight.” Rarity said, “No one is buying these amazing sculptures, they are absolutely magnifique!” Rarity looked at them with awe, but the salesman was still in shock.
“They… did sell.. but the money I made is…. Gone.” He managed.
“Didn’t you see anyone at all?” Twilight asked.
“No, it just… Levitated away, but without… magic.” He stuttered, his expression looked like he hoped everything was a dream, that he’d open his eyes and the money would be back.
“But surely it can’t have been much, I mean, you look like you just lost a fortune.” Rarity asked, trying to sound nice while asking, so she wouldn’t offend him.
“It was everything… He paused for a second. Everything I’ve earned this month, I empty the box every… start of a month, and it’s the end of this one now.
“You said it levitated away, but without magic?” Applejack asked.
“Yes, it was like… Someone invisible grabbed it. But that’s not possible, right?”
The group looked at each other, and they all thought the same thing.
“Come with me and I shall repay you whatever amount that you lost.” Celestia told him, and they walked away towards the castle. “I’m counting on you girls.” She told the group before she walked away too far.
“Scootaloo must’ve been on our train on the way to Canterlot.” Twilight said.
“That saves us time, as long as we can find her that is.”
Suddenly a crash was heard just a block away, and then a scream followed shortly after.
“I’ll go check it out, if I’m not back within a minute, it’s her.” Rainbow Dash said before dashing away over the houses.
A minute passed in what felt like forever according to the two remaining crusaders as they waited for Rainbow Dash. When she didn’t come back though, they all ran in the direction of where the sound had come from. Arriving at the scene they saw Rainbow Dash in the air, holding Scootaloo in her arms with a tight grip. She wasn’t invisible anymore and she looked exhausted. They walked up beneath Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo and Applejack started talking.
“What the hay have you been up to, young filly? Causing trouble like this is just beyond me that any filly actually can do. What’s your reason?”
Scootaloo was so exhausted she could barely breathe and they all realized it pretty quickly.
“Are you okay Scoot?” Sweetie Belle asked.
No response.
“What do we do now?” Fluttershy asked.
“It can be a trick girls, be on your guard. If we let her down for a second she can turn invisible.” Twilight said, bet even she saw that the exhaustion that Scootaloo showed was real.
“We could let her rest for the night, and lock her up somewhere safe and try reasoning with her in the morning, maybe?” Rainbow Dash suggested, who still had a tight grip around Scootaloo’s chest.
Nopony had a better idea, so that’s what they ended up doing. They locked her up in one of the hotel suits, like the one Rarity could borrow when she visited Canterlot. Scootaloo had fallen asleep even before they got to the hotel suite, so they carried her to bed and locked the door so she couldn’t sneak out.
--
The next day Scootaloo pondered around in the suite. She was looking for escape routes. C’mon, it can’t end here. It’s my destiny to create chaos, and I can’t be stopped during my first week of doing so. She moved every box and drawer, even looked beneath her pillow but she found nothing that could help her escape.
“And for some reason I can’t use my invisibility, so I’m pretty much stuck here.” She muttered, letting out a big sigh.
She had thought of going back to her normal life, which seemed so distant now. It could never be normal again. She started hearing hoofsteps outside the door and hid behind her bed. Maybe they’d think she was invisible. The door opened and everypony from Ponyville walked in.
“Where the hay is she?” Applejack asked, when no sign of Scootaloo was shown.
“She’s in here somewhere, that’s for certain. Princess Celestia and I used a spell on this suite so that no supernatural magic could be used. She’s hiding.” Twilight said with a steady voice.
“Scootaloo, at the count of 5 we will start searching the room, the punishment you’ll receive for your actions will be reduced if you walk out from your hiding spot now.” She continued.
Scootaloo didn’t know what to do.
“1…”
Should she run for it?
“2…”
Maybe she’d be able to jump out the window, but it was pretty high up.
“3…”
She decided to face them, and trotted around the bed.
“Hey…” Scootaloo said with a quiet voice.
They all looked at her with disappointment, except for Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.
“You’re done being bad now, aren’t you?” Applebloom asked carefully.
“I… It’s my destiny to be this way, I can’t help it. I don’t always control my actions since it’s what I’m supposed to do, and it happens by itself.” Scootaloo responded.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Celestia said as she walked through the door.
“Scootaloo, you must realize that you can’t do this and keep harmony in balance. Harmony is what keeps our society together.” Celestia said, she looked at her as if she asked her if she understood.
“Then I will leave Ponyville, and Canterlot as well. If I can’t be here and you can’t have me the way I am, I will leave and never return.” Scootaloo said with a straight face, but deep inside these words hurt her badly. She would never crusade with her friends again. Rainbow Dash had just taken her under her wing. And all the memories of Ponyville would slowly fade away.
Sweetie Belle started sniffing, but Applebloom’s tears were flowing already.
“I have made my decision Celestia.” Scootaloo said. “So let me leave now, and I will never return to this place again.” She could not for her life understand how her voice could be so steady. She should be crying now, but she couldn’t.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Scootaloo. If I leave you to wander the lands of the unknown, or to any other city where ponies live, then you would cause chaos there instead, and I would be to blame, since I didn’t stop you right here.” Celestia said. Her words were heavy and Scootaloo understood that the last part about stopping her meant stopping… forever. She had a slight panic attack, as she saw Celestia charging up magic in her horn.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom noticed this as well, and they ran forth and jumped in front of Scootaloo, yelling “Don’t do it!” “She can change!”
But it was too late. Celestia’s magic beam hit Sweetie Belle first, and then Applebloom too, and finally Scootaloo as well. They were all turned to stone. It was like a layer of stone had been added on the outside of their fur, but it was actually solid rock, and they were all connected into one big “statue”.
“THE STONE BLOCK!” Rarity shouted with tears in her eyes.
She was the first one to notice that the “statue” had been hit with such force from Celestia’s magic that it was tipping over. Rainbow Dash made an attempt to fly and catch it but the “statue” hit the ground just before she grabbed it. Everything went silent. No one could talk, if they even knew what they would say. Scootaloo had had her head crushed into thousands of small pieces of gravel. Her body layed shattered beneath the other crusaders. Applebloom’s entire chest piece was crushed and the head layed scattered between her broken stone-legs. Sweetie Belle’s bodyparts laid across the room, all still intact but not attached to anything. Her left side of the head had been crushed, and the head was the only thing connected to her body.
No one moved. They were as frozen. No one made a noise, even by breathing. In the background the world was as normal, the birds singing in the gardens, the lively market on the streets, well, lively with Canterlot standards. And hoofsteps that came closer and closer.
A guard trotted up behind them.
“Princess, is everything okay? We heard screaming and a crash.”
No response. Rarity was the first one to move. She fell down on the floor, not caring about the dirty surface. She cried, hitting the ground as hard as she could with her hooves.
“Wh…Why…WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT CELESTIA?!” she screamed, looking up at her princess. Celestia didn’t answer. She had guilt in her eyes, and Rarity saw it. But Rarity didn’t care about Celestia’s feelings. She had just killed her little sister, and her two best friends.
“ANSWER ME!” She yelled, still crying her eyes out.
Applejack was still in shock. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what an apple was anymore. She looked at Twilight and their eyes met. With her eyes she asked if this was real life, and Twilight simply nodded, with tears in her eyes. Applejack bit her lip as tears started flowing down her cheeks.
“WHYY?!” Rarity kept on screaming, not as much towards Celestia anymore, just out in the open.
From the rocks blood started flowing, as the hearts of the crusaders had been kept within.
“Is there nothing you can do about it, Celestia?” Rainbow Dash asked. She would always be loyal to Celestia, but right now she didn’t know at all.
“I… I have to go… I’m sorry my little ponies, I really am. I am not expecting you to forgive me, any time soon, or at all. Just keep in mind that this was not my intention.” She said, and slowly backed out of the door, leaving the six friends at the death scene of the young Cutiemark Crusaders.
