Scooter Tracks in My Life

by Pyrus Nightwrite

Rating: teen
Tags: Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Romance, Princess Luna, Original Character, Comedy, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 24741

A new Colt in town meets Scootaloo and they become instant friends. but as things unfold, more seems to be there than the two once believed...

Pyrus Nightwrite, a new foal from Canterlot, meets Scootaloo through an unfortunate event. the two instantly strike up a friendship. But the more time they spend together, the more Scootaloo finds herself thinking about him, and wondering if there's more to their friendship than either of them realize.

Scootaloo Shipfic. there aren't enough of these out there.

Published 2012-03-25 14:24:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-11-17 09:39:23 UTC

TAG!

Scootaloo dashed out of the classroom the moment she heard the bell. School was fun and all, but not nearly as fun as after school. That, and she wanted to get out before Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon found her, and ruin her good mood. Waving goodbye to Applebloom and Sweetie Bell, she hopped onto her scooter. Feeling the electrical charge of energy she always felt while on her scooter, she buzzed her wings and sped off. She turned around in her scooter to wave goodbye to her friends again, but they had already faded into the distance.

Zipping along in her usual array of tricks and spins, she sped along. One particular trick involving a spin of her scooter in mid-air while jumping over a startled and impressed crowd brought a smile to her face. That smile widened as she buzzed Cranky Doodle. Ignoring his shouts, Scootaloo continued her performance for no-pony in particular. Spinning, flipping, and jumping, she pushed on.

She felt good today, and she had some extra time, so she took a different route than she normally did. She turned down a side road, looking at the path ahead of her. A long winding road through the meadows and hills greeted her. Cool wind blew through her mane, and the bright sun warmed her, making her feel very calm and at peace. A feeling of calm isn’t what normal ponies feel when speeding through fields in a scooter at this kind of speed she mused to herself.

Up ahead, she spotted a pony lying in the grass. Orange she thought. Who do I know who is bright orange?

She picked up speed to get closer. The pony was a unicorn, not much bigger than Scootaloo. He was male, with a bright orange coat, and a mane of slightly darker orange. The mane was strait, slightly longer than the normal length, and had some black streaks. His tail was similar, with the same amount of black. The cutie mark tattooed onto his flank was an unrolled scroll with a candle and quill crossed over top of the scroll. He had a piece of parchment hovering in front of him, and a quill off to his side. He seemed completely absorbed in it, not noticing his surrounding at all. His face looked troubled.

Scootaloo’s focus shattered and her heart stopped for a beat or two. She knew exactly who this was! Pyrus was the pony from Canterlot that had moved here about a month ago, and was in the grade higher than Scootaloo. She had a little thing going for him, just a slight nag that managed to flare up though her defenses for a few seconds. Looking around, she saw that there wasn’t anypony else around.

This is my chance! I might be able to impress his with one of my tricks!

Franticly, she searched for a jump or curb. Anything that she could use to get a little air. Something near him that she could use to… there! That hill! It was close to him, and enough that she could catch some wicked air. She turned a beeline strait for it. She pushed her doubts and thoughts in her action aside and picked up speed. Faster, faster! I need to put up a good image! Launching off the side of the hill, she spun a complicated trick, turning the scooter beneath her and doing a backflip at the same time.

Time slowed to a crawl as she looked at Pyrus. He didn’t even notice she was there, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! He was too absorbed in whatever paper he had. Scootaloo visibly deflated and sighed.
Not the best idea while performing a backflip and scooter spin.

Balance thrown off and spin disrupted, she lost control. She disconnected from her scooter, and was now sailing through the air upside down. She slammed through the branches of a tree, and with a loud crack broke through.

“WAAH-“crash “OW!” crunch “UMPH!”

That got Pyrus’s attention.

“Oh my gosh!” he dropped the paper and quill and rushed over to Scootaloo. “Are you okay!?”

“Ow! Thanks, I’m f-” opening her eyes, she caught site of Pyrus, standing beside her crumpled form. “I’m fi… I’m… uuuuhhh…” real smooth Scoots, REAL smooth!

He held out a hoof to help her up. The colt had concern in his deep green eyes. Smiling awkwardly, she took it and got up.

“Thanks… I-I’m really alright…”

“Are you sure? You really took a crash there.”

“Y-yeah. I’m fine” Scootaloo could feel herself blushing. She looked away from him so he couldn’t see.

“Well, if you say so…. What’s your name? I’ve seen you around but…”

I’m talking to Pyrus! Wait, he asked me my name! Well, TELL HIM YOUR NAME!

“I’m Scootaloo.”

“I’m Pyrus Nightwrite. I’m new here. Just moved in. Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of you.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, it’s still nice to meet you.”

“…..”

“…..”

Celestia, Scoots, SAY SOMETHING!

“Uhh…. What was that parchment there?”

“Oh!” Pyrus picked up the paper with magic, quickly rolled it up, and tucked it into his saddlebag leaning on a tree. “I-it’s nothing, really. Nothing at all” it was Pyrus’s turn to turn deep red.

He’s hiding something, obviously. I wonder why?

”that was more than nothing. You totally didn’t see me pass right in front of you!”

“I didn’t? Hmm… well, it’s nothing really. Really, it’s not!” Pyrus turned another shade deeper of red.

Scootaloo smiled, she was warming up to him a bit. ”If it’s really nothing, why are you hiding it?” with that, she bolted in the direction of the tree. Upon reaching it, she picked up the bag.

“Why are you…? Hey! Put that down!”

Orange magic surrounded the bag, and Pyrus pulled. Scootaloo quickly darted her hoof in and grabbed the scroll just before she lost her grip on the saddlebag. She unrolled the paper and looked at it.

“Is this… a poem?” Scootaloo looked at Pyrus with one eyebrow raised.

Pyrus blushed even more. “n-NO! C’mon, give it back!”

Scootaloo giggled a little bit. “Come here and get it!” with that, she bolted again, giggling fiercely.

Pyrus smiled, chuckling a bit himself, and took off after her. If it was a chase she wanted…

Wow. He’s fast! Scootaloo ran hard in a full canter. She pumped her legs with all her strength. She even buzzed her wings to gain a boost in speed. But Pyrus was still on her tail, and gaining fast. That pony could run! Scootaloo was fully laughing now, as was Pyrus. He pulled up next to her, and with magic, snatched the scroll out of Scootaloo’s mouth, surprising her. Then he tapped her side, yelled “TAG” and took off in the other direction, cackling with laughter.

Scootaloo launched off in Pyrus’s direction to chase after him, laughing as well. No longer caring about the poem he had, this was just for pure fun. The joy and happiness of having another pony to play with had Scootaloo literally buzzing with energy.

It soon became evident that Scootaloo would not be able to overtake Pyrus, he was simply too fast. Seeing this as a challenge, Scootaloo found the solution. Pyrus was speeding and leading Scootaloo directly to the hill she had jumped off earlier. As he passed the hill, Scootaloo ran up it. She saw her target, locked on, and launched off the side of the hill, buzzing her wings to gain momentum in the air.

“YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Pyrus turned his head at the battle cry. “huh-WAAAG!”

Scootaloo collided with Pyrus and they both tumbled to the ground in a tackle that would do the Equestrian Hoofball Team proud. Sprawling out on the ground, Scootaloo could not contain her laughter. It was evident Pyrus was having that same difficulty. Unable to stop laughing for quite some time, they lay there. Eventually Pyrus came to his senses.
Sitting up, he looked at the sun, which was falling behind the mountains in the distance. It was orange, dimming, and the shadows of the trees and hills were lengthening. The light reflected off his coat, making the bright orange fur vibrant.
“Sun’s setting. You should probably get home…”

“Oh, yeah… Hey? Where’s my scooter?”

“I’ll help you look.”

“Ok”

In short order, Scootaloo found the aforementioned scooter. It looked like it had gone through a worse crash than she did. It was missing two wheels, the handlebars were bent, and it was covered in grass stains.

“Well, looks like I’m walking,” Scootaloo sighed sadly.

“I gotta head back too. How bout I walk you home?”

Happily, she accepted. It meant she could spend a little more time with him anyway.

Side by side, Scootaloo and Pyrus set off down the path to Ponyville.

Could this day get any better!? Scootaloo thought to herself as they walked.

Welcoming the Night

Scootaloo’s heart bubbled with excitement, boiling over and cascading down into the entirety of her soul. The energy falling down visibly vibrated in her being, and her body. She was on the verge of bouncing into the trees. I almost feel I could fly!

The day was definitely looking better. Earlier, she had gotten out of bed with her wing aching and stiff from the cold hard ground, and she had gotten to school 10 minutes late because her wing wasn’t working the way it normally did.
At lunch, Applebloom gave her an apple as usual, and she had eagerly accepted. As the apple neared her teeth, Silver Spoon appeared behind her, and had knocked it out of her hooves. Diamond Tiara naturally slinked up in front of her and caught it, immediately taking a bite.

“Oh, were you gonna eat this? I’m so sorry.”

Left hungry and seething angrily, her brain lacked its usual working force. The math on the paper did nothing but buzz uselessly in her head, as did the large red letter F circled on the test. Her day was not going well.

But now her brain was working overtime, and she still couldn’t think. The excitement she felt completely blocked her mind from her mouth.

Pyrus’s clear voice completely derailed her train of thought. “So, where do you live? It’s kinda hard to walk you home if I don’t know where you live.”

“Oh, Uuuuhhh... I… well...” Horseapples! I can’t let him know! not yet... “Well, I’ll… uh… just show you. It’s… ummm… easier just to show you.”

“Okay…? Lead the way, I guess…”

The pair set off down the road, leaving the bright colors of the setting sun behind them. The dirt crunched under their hooves as they walked. Scootaloo fell silent as she walked, looking to the side, to the twisted metal of the scooter tied in a haphazard pile on her back, and at the trees they passed. She couldn’t bring herself to simply look to the left at Pyrus, who had as well fallen silent.

Finally, Pyrus broke the silence, forcing Scootaloo to look over at him. “Why don’t you just fly home? You don’t have to walk with me…”

Scootlaoo’s eyes drooped slightly, now looking towards her feet. Scootaloo felt the wet tickle of a tear, and bit it back. “I… I can’t… I… I ride this for a reason…” she gestured vaguely at the broken scooter.

“Oh… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know-”

“It’s fine. How could you have known?”

“I still shouldn’t have said that. It was unkind of me.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s really okay…” Scootaloo’s voice trailed off. The tear she had been fighting back snuck its way out as she felt it trickle down her face.

“Hey… if it makes you feel any better, you are really fast on that scooter. I saw you on riding in the distance.” He stopped. “I saw you about here. I looked back down at my… paper… and suddenly, you had crashed through my tree. You got to me really fast. I’m impressed.”

Scootaloo’s face widened, and she found herself chuckling again. He’s trying to make me feel better about myself. It wouldn’t be so funny if he wasn’t actually doing it!

“Yeah, I guess it would make me feel a bit better…”

“Good.”

The first house of the village passed them by, and then the second. Soon they were surrounded by houses on each side. The windows were closed, and the lights off. The sun had completely set now, and there were no more traces of the daylight any longer. The moon had risen, and shone softly in the cloudless starry sky. Pyrus stopped and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. The cool night air had Scootaloo shivering slightly, but Pyrus didn’t seem to be affected at all.
She stood, shaking, and studied his form. Oddly, she black in his mane and tail seemed… different somehow. It’s… brighter. Orange-er. Like his the black had… suddenly, it clicked. The black had vanished! There were still a few thin streaks, but the rest had almost completely retreated! Scootaloo resolved to ask him about it later, and instead asked him a simpler question.

“What’s you cutie mark all about?”

“Huh?” Purus’s eyes opened again and he exhaled, deflating slightly. “Oh, this? Well…

“I got it about two years ago, back in Canterlot. As a colt, I had no idea whatsoever what or who I was. I didn’t have a single talent, nothing to go off of. I was fairly late, everypony in my class but me and a couple others already had their marks. I wanted to find out as quickly as possible what it was. I searched for weeks, with no success at all. It wasn’t cleaning, it wasn’t running or sports, and it definitely wasn’t cooking. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I was out of options.

“Then one night, I woke up to a dream. I can’t even remember what that dream was, but something told me to go for a walk. It was the middle of the night, but I had to go. So I went out there, into the cold autumn night. Suddenly, an idea came to my mind, like a vision. So I sat down, caught a paper that was floating in the breeze, searched around for a quill, and after finding one, I just started writing. Writing about the night I was in, writing about the moon and stars, writing about the breeze, and… just simply writing. What came out was a poem. After I had finished, I went home. I looked in the mirror before going back to bed, and I saw this.”

Scootaloo stood, completely captivated. She inspected the cutie mark of her newest friend, the unrolled scroll with the quill and candle crossed over the top. The quill was deep red, and the candle was lit with an orange flame.

“So… your talent is poetry? Or is it the night time?”

“…Both. My talent it’s self is writing poetry, but I am best in the middle of the night.”

“Oh. Hey, if your talent is poetry, why won’t you let me read that one you had? The one you were reading earlier.”

“Well, I don’t like it. It isn’t that good. It’s terrible.”

“Come on, let me see. pleeeeeeeese!” Scootaloo pleaded.

Pyrus looked at her. The twinkle in Scootaloo’s eyes and her pleading pout sent something astray in him. He will shattered, and he accepted.

“Well… okay. But you have to promise that you won’t read it until you get home.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Scootaloo went through the motions of a standard Pinkie Pie Swear.

“What…?” Pyrus asked slowly.

“Oh, you don’t know Pinkie Pie yet? She’s the pink earth pony that lives at the bakery and throws parties?”

“Oh, her?” Pyrus shuddered slightly; remembering the surprise party thrown at his house when he had first moved in. it was the longest night of his life. “But what does that have to do with… that?”

“It’s her signature swear. Everypony in Ponyville uses it. You do not break a Pinkie Pie Swear. Ever.” The look in Scootaloo’s eyes had Pyrus thoroughly convinced.

Pyrus sighed in defeat. “Ok then, here’s the poem, I guess. You can have it. Just don’t hate me for it.” Opening his saddlebag, he extracted the rolled scroll with his orange glow. Using the ribbon tied on the scroll, Pyrus pied the scroll to the scooter on Scootaloo’s back.

“Why would I hate you for a poem?”

“………”

“well, whatever.”

Scootaloo and Pyrus were now standing in the middle of Ponyville, town hall loomed high above them, slightly ominous in the dark of night.

“hey, Pyrus? I know I can make it from here… you don’t have to walk me all the way home. I mean, won’t your parents get worried?” Scootaloo couldn’t bring herself to tell Pyrus where she lived just yet.

“…They aren’t. Mom won’t worry at all…”

“Seriously, you should really get home, Pyrus.”

“I can go the rest of the way with you. It’ll be just fine, my Mom doesn’t-“

“NO” Scootaloo’s voice resounded slightly off of Town Hall, and echoed off the mountains in the distance. The sudden outburst startled Pyrus, and again his will broke, this time tearing a little.

“I’m sorry Pyrus, but…”

“Okay… I guess its fine…”

“Thank you.”

“Then I guess I’ll… uhh… see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see ya, Pyrus.”

“bye, Scootaloo…”

As Pyrus walked away, he mentally checked himself. Why did she snap like that? Did I say something…? Is it something I did? Or is she trying to hide something from me?

Scootaloo turned and walked in the other direction, turning down a darker alley. The houses loomed around her, and the gravel under her feet crunched loudly without Pyrus’s voice to help drown it out. Turning once again, she made a beeline strait for a collapsing house. The side wall had fallen, dragging half the roof down with it. The majority of the house lay in a pile off to the side of the foundation. Some sheets hung from the roof, covering the interior. Home, sweet home… Scootaloo thought bitterly, brushing past the dirty sheets into the building inside.

Untying and dropping her scooter on the concrete floor, Scootaloo clacked over to her matt. A rough quilt lay on the ground, atop a torn and frayed floor mat. Carrying the poem by its ribbon in her mouth, she climbed into the cold quilt, shivering slightly. Wrapping herself into a quilt cocoon, Scootaloo opened the poem. Her eyes scanned the title, and then ran down the page.

Nightfall
Sun sets in the distance
Slowly the bright moon begins to rise
The low clouds seem to break apart
And the cool breeze sighs
Alone sitting under an apple tree
Birds chirp, bats squeak, a large owl hoots
Leaning up against the apple tree
Standing there deep in its roots
The stars come out in the darkening sky
Little diamonds shining bright
Solemnly they twinkle
As I welcome the coming night

A warm feeling spread across Scootaloo’s heart for the second time that night. Running her eyes up and down, she read and reread the poem, eagerly taking in every word. The poem warmed her heart, her heart warmed her blood, and soon Scootaloo felt the warmth spreading through her body, heating her softly. Her eyes drifted shut and her breathing slowed down, as she too welcomed the night.

Royal consoling

Royal consoling

AN: sorry this took me so long. writer's block plus getting sick plus AP finals prep is slowing me down. i had a fever in the middle of the week, and i'm behind in homework as it is. but as anyone who knows me can probably say, i enjoy writing far more than i enjoy homework, so i made this. i'll bet you're all tired of my rambling now, so here, have a new chapter.

Pyrus Nightwrite’s brain was sore from questions and possible answers, analyses of the past few hours, and mind-melting feelings, which bounced and stormed frustratingly though his head and buzzed and spun until he finally just gave up and turned his brain off. Turning his brain off in a snap like that had never been easy for him, however, and it simply started overtime again. Amidst all the chaos and conflicting problems, he mentally shouted out. WHY CAN’T I JUST SHUT MYSELF UP!? In response, his brain cleared up a bit. Thankfully, he jumped to the question that now stood alone. What he saw almost made him ragequit his whole brain.
Why did she snap at me like that?
“GAHH! I’M NOT GETTING ANYWHERE!” Pyrus halted in the middle of the road and yelled, and then immediately quieted down as his brain caught up to his temper and reminded him that some ponies were trying to sleep. The pony screaming at him from her window saying those same words helped that process along a bit.
Ever since he had walked away, he had been pondering this question. The maelstrom of thoughts had spawned from that one simple question. What did I say? It seems like she’s either trying to hide something from me… or she is trying to hide from me.
Either way, something was being hidden. That much was apparent.
Mumbling to himself, he began walking again. As he walked, he felt the familiar tickle of a dark, sparkling cloud of mist sliding around his body.
He stopped again. He knew it was best he did. Not many ponies went out at night, and even fewer did it frequently. It was only natural that Luna made friends with the ones that did. As Luna began to materialize in front of him, he made his way to the ground in a friendly bow. With his knees bent and one hoof in the air and the knee of that hoof on the ground, he silently bowed low for the princess.
“Oh, what a simply wonderful night!”
“Princess Luna, it’s you.”
“Why, of course it’s me. Who else do you know can travel around as a cloud of stardust?”
“Well, when you put it that way…”
Pyrus rose from his bow, and looked his princess in the eyes. They had a sparkle of happiness and just the slightest touch of mischief in them. A wide grin covered her face, and her mane flowed with a little extra sparkle tonight.
“Princess, you snuck out of your royal duties again, didn’t you?”
“Of course. How else do I get to come out and play? It’s almost like... like…” Luna’s body coursed. She looked up at the night sky, and the large white disk hanging in the stars. Said sparkle faded, and was replaced with the beginnings of a tear.
“Loneliness got the better of you again?”
“Yes. I am filled with such loneliness. It burdens my heart to be alone again. I have only just gotten back and I already find my night unappreciated again.”
Pyrus recognized this. It was time for him to play emotion doctor again.
“I appreciate your night. I find it very… relaxing. And refreshing. Like… a cool glass of lemonade after a long day.”
Luna sighed loudly. “That makes one…”
“Luna… there are certainly more ponies in the night…”
“They all want to get away… none of them are out on their own, just to be out there. Nopony likes my night.”
Pyrus paused. Not for dramatic effect, he had to think of something to say. If only it was as simple as saying ‘cheer up, we need you.’ Ya’know… that actually didn’t sound too bad…
“Hey, cheer up. We all need you. We need you and the night. It’s not like nopony likes it. Everypony likes it!” He looked deep into Luna’s eyes, which were beginning to tear up. “Everypony.”
Luna turned her face away, and softly spoke. “You have no proof…”
“Hey, have you ever tried sleeping during the day? Wait, bad choice of words. Do you know anypony who sleeps through the day? Maybe one or two? Because it’s really hard. Too bright, too loud, the sun is out. If it weren’t for your night, ponies wouldn’t get any sleep. They love it, they just don’t know it.” Wow… do I really mean that...? Why yes, of course I do!
Luna’s stance shifted, and she got slightly taller. Her eyes brightened, and her frown she was wearing was replaced with a wide grin.
“I…I guess I never thought about it that way…”
Pyrus smiled back. “Now, are you ready to go back to that throne?”
“Yes, I do believe I am now fit for the rest of night.”
“Good. You had better get back; we can hang out tomorrow night, and you do realize there isn’t much night left to govern tonight…”
Donning on her “Princess of the Night” face, she rose into the air. “Yes, Pyrus, we must get back as soon as possible!”
Pyrus heard himself sigh. “You said ‘we’ again.”
“Why yes, we did. What will thou do about it?” With that, she transformed into stardust again, and drifted away to Canterlot, ready to rule over what was left of the night.
Pyrus chuckled to himself, remembering the night that he met Luna. if it weren’t for her… I might not have made it where I am today. I’ll bet she feels the same way…. He briefly reflected on their nights they spent talking and laughing.
Now, back to thinking. Pyrus sighed (again!) and began down the road (again!) with nothing left but to ponder what had occurred that night. Let’s see… I meet Scootaloo… she and I play tag… I give her my poem… she takes off and won’t let me walk her home… hmm…. I wonder if she-
BANG
Pyrus fell to his haunches and massaged his suddenly aching forehead, grumbling something that sounded like “who put that house there…”
Resolving that he must have been thinking too hard, Pyrus made the critical decision to shut up and walk. Pushing the question aside for later, he plodded down the trail, and then turned up the concrete path to his door. Pushing it open and walking inside, he tiptoed (tip-hoofed?) across the room.
Walking through the house quietly, he began the journey down to his room. Before making it even out of the second room, he heard his Mom snoring. Over his left shoulder sat a brown colored unicorn with a greasy yellow mane. Sitting next to her was an unmarked bottle, containing the booze that had presumably knocked her unconscious. The small TV flickered casting Mom in a peculiar flashing light.
Home, sweet home…
Silently, he snuck into the next room, then down the stairs, through the basement, and down the ladder into his room. Using magic to light a small candle, he closed the hatch to his room. The rope ladder rattled slightly, and then fell silent. Slipping into the covers, he watched the glowing flame from the candle he had placed on the table beside his bed.
He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and then he too fell silent, fast asleep.

The Idea

AH: hey everypony. chapter update. this one took me longer than i thought it would. i had to brainstorm for about three days there, and normally it takes me about two hours to get the plot line of the chapter. the fact that i'm still behind in my classes and i now have 2+ hours sucked away for driver's ED doesn't help much. i'm not sure about this chapter, but i guess i should just release it. AAAnyhoof, enough of my talking. read my chapter.

“Come on! It’ll be fun!”

“No! I am NOT getting myself killed!”

“Please?”

“The answer’s NO, Scootaloo. You’re lucky to even get me up here!”

“Come on, it’s not that far…”

“Are you kidding me!? I want down, now.”

“No. it won’t kill you. I’m still here right? I’ve done this before.”

“Then why didn’t Sweetie Bell and Applebloom want to come?”

“…They’re just chicken”

“Then I guess I’m a chicken too. Let me down!”

“No.”

Pyrus tasted the salty sweat running down his face. Looking down had been a bad idea. He stood on the edge of a tree, with visions racing through his mind of falling and the sudden stop at the end of said fall. He wore straps, which held him prisoner to a rope tied ‘firmly’ to the tree, and stood trembling on a wooden platform. “I am not going zip lining, and that is final!”

“Okay, fine… I guess we can go down now then…”

“Thank you.”

A wide, mischievous grin spread across the face of the brown-orange Pegasus next to Pyrus. “Well then, let’s GO!”
On the word “GO” Scootaloo launched herself off the platform, speeding down the rope. “Oh Horseapp-“ The straps yanked Pyrus off the platform, which also yanked the word out of Pyrus’s mouth. Yelling at the top of his lungs was no longer an option; the air had been stolen from his lungs. Oh Celestia oh Luna oh man I’m gonna die! The though spun through his head, repeating it’s message like a broken record, while somewhere else, his short life sped through his head, slowing down to a flashback to that afternoon. Where did I go so wrong!? In answer, his mind played back where he had gone so wrong.
____________________

“Hi Pyrus! Wanna come crusading with us?”

“What? Crusading?”

“Yeah, crusading!”

“uhh… crusading…?”

“Oh” Scootaloo facehoofed her own mistake. “How could I not tell you about my two best friends? This is Applebloom”

“Pleasure to meetcha” Applebloom took a step forward and shook Pyrus’s hoof violently.

“n-n-nice t-to m-meet you t-too…” Pyrus managed to stutter out.

“And this is Sweetie Bell.”

“Umm… hi there.” Sweetie stared anywhere but Pyrus’s eyes and shrunk a little, hiding her face with her mane.

“Girls, this is Pyrus. He’s the-”

“The colt you’ve been tellin us about, yeah. You’ve only been talkin bout him the whole entire day.” Applebloom’s eyes rolled, earning herself a glare from Scootaloo.

“AAAAAnyway, we’re…”

All three of them chimed in, and performed an impressively loud “the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

Pyrus rubbed a hoof on his brutalized ear. Oh, I get it now. “I get it. You three want me to go with you?”

The trio nodded vigorously, grinning ear to ear.

“To help you find you cutie marks?”

Nodding again.

“… Aahh, whatever. I’m game. What are we gonna do?”

Applebloom thought for a moment “Well… it seems like we should go re-try some of them things we did wrong. Ya’know, those things that ended with us covered in tree sap? I mean, we did them wrong, so how do we know our cutie marks aren't in them. We just gotta do them right.”

Sweetie bell piped in, still looking anywhere but at Pyrus. “Are you sure, Applebloom? I don’t think so, I mean, we did end
up in tree sap .”

“Well I’m liking this idea... What about you, Pyrus?” Scootaloo looked curiously at Pyrus.

“It’s your marks, not mine. You girls decide, I guess I’m just here for the ride…”

“Then it’s decided. We re-try what we did wrong.” Applebloom said, building in volume.

“I really don’t think we should…”

Scootaloo ignored Sweetie. “And I know just where we can start!”

Sweetie Bell looked sideways to Scootaloo. “uhh, Scootaloo? I don’t like that face you have on… you always make it when you have a really, [i/]really bad idea.”

“I don’t know that you’re talking about Sweetie. I have the best idea I’ve had since the cannon.”

“I knew you had a bad idea.”
____________________

Well, now I know what Sweetie was talking about. “bad idea” doesn’t even begin to describe.

Pyrus had to use every nerve he had not to panic any more than he had already. As he went falling faster and faster, he silently swore he’d never fall asleep in class again, if he were to survive the zip line.

Scootaloo called back to Pyrus, voice raised high in excitement “isn’t this the best EVER!?”

“Scootaloo, I don’t know why I ever let you talk me into this!”

Pyrus felt the wind whipping through his mane soften. Thank Celestia we’re slowing down!

“Uh oh”

“’Uh oh’? Why do I get the feeling it’s bad that we’re slowing down?”

“Because it is.”

In front of him, Scootaloo stopped suddenly, causing Pyrus to slam into her, hard. Now dangling from the rope, Pyrus took stock of his surroundings, careful not to look down. Deciding it was better to look up than to look down and make himself the next victim of a heart attack, he glanced upwards. The clips that Pyrus and Scootaloo had used to zip line glowed with an orange light, and Pyrus could swear he smelled smoke.

“Not again…”

Pyrus’s ears perked up. “wadda ya mean not again?”

As if waiting for its cue, the rope snapped, burned through.

“Oh…”

Pyrus dropped like a stone, while Scootaloo franticly flapped her adolescent wings uselessly, and together they tumbled toward the ground below. Pyrus’s life flashed through his mind again, at a doubled pace. The ground rushed up to meet them, and the pine tree that jutted up from the ground sped faster.

Crashing through the branches, Pyrus bumped and broke his way through the pine tree. First there was a painful thump on his right shoulder, and then blooming pain exploded through his left flank. Squeezing his eyes shut tight against the unpleasant sensation, Pyrus gave in to fate. If nothing else, the tree is breaking my fall. I really hope that’s all its breaking…

A branch caught his hind leg, flipping him upside down. Pyrus opened his eyed at the sudden vertigo he experienced from flipping over, and then immediately regretted the choice. As a subsequent limb of wood rushed forward to meet him, he shut them again. Colors exploded across the back of his eyelids, and a ringing filled his skull.

That’s okay; I didn’t need my head anyway…

The colors faded away, slipping into the black background, and stealing his consciousness away with them.

Why Wait?

AN: I have to admit, i'm a little nervous to submit this one. my reasoning is simply that i have written this chapter 4 different times, each one in a different way. what you'll see below is a hybrid between 3 and 4. Also, this chapter would have been here about a week ago, but i have had a few... technical difficulties, including my WiFi going down, a computer virus, and Discord. But it's here now so, have fun.

“Wake up, little filly. It’s late, and you need a bath…”

Colors filled her vision as she revealed her purple eyes to the rest of the world. Nurse Redheart had taken a position next to her and was gently shaking the only clean part on Scootaloo’s body.

“Huh? Where… oh.”

Memories of the past day refilled her head, and she closed her eyes against the tears that were bound to follow. Finding herself shivering from cold this time, she huddled her body together, shrinking to try to warm up. A cold sticky substance, located when she crossed her forelegs, greeted her, and Scootaloo realized that she was still covered in sap from the crash through the branches. She had only taken a minor blow, sliding nearly harmlessly through the needles. Though they poked her and coated her in their liquid glue, they did no real damage, and therefor Scootaloo had completely forgotten she had fallen at all. Everything had been about Pyrus…

Why, though? Why is it him that concerns me? I know for sure I’d have worried a lot more about the sap had it been somepony else… so why Pyrus?

The thought baffled her thoroughly, and she shook her head to attempt to clear her head. The nurse recoiled at the sudden movement, and then let out an audible harrumph.

“Honestly, did you really need to go and do that? Now I have sap on my hoof…”

“Sorry, Nurse Redheart, I really didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine… I just will have to wash my hooves again. Speaking of which,” she eyed Scootaloo’s sticky fur with a look that bordered on malice, “you could really use a bath. There’s a tub in the back, if you need it. I’ll be just a minute and I can bring you a towel or some rags.”

“Thanks, a towel will be fine. And thank you for being so nice to me.” She spoke to the kind-hearted nurse, then added under her breath “Why you’d want to be nice to a monster like me is a mystery though…”

“What was that, Little One?”

“Nothing” Replied Scootaloo, almost too quickly.

“Well, just call me if you need anything more. I’ll be looking after some other patients.”

“Thanks again” she called to Redheart as she clacked down the hall.
______________

Clean and dry, Scootaloo felt just a little better. Pushing through the door and across the room to her pillow on the ground, she finally brought herself to examine Pyrus thoroughly. Starting at the bottom half, she examined the tight bandage that adorned his left leg. It seemed he had hit his entire left side pretty hard, as bruises dotted his flank, turning the usually crisp-looking parchment of his cutie mark a sickly greenish-purple color. Moving up, she saw that other than a few bruises, his body seemed mostly fine.

That is, until her eyes fell upon the large white bandage that wrapped around his head.
Her blood suddenly ran cold for a heartbeat as she looked at his face. It was mostly fine, except for one large black eye, swelling a bit, and some scrapes covered his right cheek. The worst part, however, was his mane. As Scootaloo’s eyes fell upon it, she found something that disturbed her majorly.

The once orange and black mane was now purely a slick black color. A single lock of orange hair swam in an ocean of sleek darkness. The light glinted off of his mane, and she wondered how exactly his mane even worked. She had thought that he had just dyed it or something, and she was certain he had also had shown up that afternoon with his mane about half and half, striped almost tiger like. But now it had changed…

Curious, and more than a little freaked out, she examined it, ran a hoof through it, and even at one point considered licking it (though after some forethought decided it would be a bad idea to do so). I’ll… I’ll ask him when he wakes up. if he wakes up… In a flash of thought, she was miserable again. An odd feeling wept out of her heart and into the rest of her body, a feeling of protectiveness and a surprising need to be right by his side.

Filling out this need, she sat, her front hooves resting on the bedside. Feeling slightly silly, at least for her current state, she stood guard over him, watching him and their surroundings to protect him. She didn’t know what she was protecting him from, and when she asked herself she rapidly shoved the question out of her mind. Looking around and deciding her surroundings were safe, she looked back down to his face.

Nothing had changed.

Sighing in disappointment and failure, Scootaloo walked back and plopped down on her pillow again, and fell quickly into dreams once more.
_________________

Pyrus’s consciousness had begun to slowly fade in and out in the hospital. He remembered seeing a blurry image of a brown unicorn with a white coat examining a clipboard, and then his vision had faded again. Another blur passed by where he was being wheeled into a cozy room, and that scene faded away as well. Finally he saw a much less blurred image of a brown-orange pegasus cry herself to sleep, and he latched onto it. Fighting, he pulled with all his energy to regain his consciousness and comfort the crying form. She was obviously upset and he wanted so much to help her. A wonderful feeling of loss and disappointment flooded him as his grip slipped and the image was ripped from his thoughts.

Floating along, Pyrus’s subconscious prepared, crouched and waiting for the next blur to pass by. Color soon hazed into his vision, and his subconscious sprung forward and burst into the image, grabbing hold of what little control of Pyrus’s body it could get. Fighting with all its strength, it heaved his left eyelid upward so to try to wake Pyrus up.

Long story short- it worked.

Pyrus felt himself slip back into the real world. A splitting headache and throbbing leg welcomed him back. Recoiling, he shut his eyes tight against the colors, but the deed had been done. He was awake, once and for all.

Well, if I have to be awake, I might as well see where the hay I am…
Plan set out, he slowly opened his left eyelid, and halfway opened his bruised right one. White sheets were below him, and more white bandaged his left leg, the source of the throbbing. Monitors beeped and clicked away at each other next to him, carrying out some conversation Pyrus didn’t even try to understand. Moving on to the walls, also a stark white, he searched for something. Anything that ISN’T white or beeping!

Looking on the other side of the room, he found something. Something whose face was streaked in tears. Something who very un-peacefully slept, curled up against herself.

Something named…

“Scootaloo?”

Origins

AN: this chapter is a little bit darker than i expected to be, and as such i have added the "dark" category to the story. if you feel it doesn't belong there, comment and tell me it doesn't and i'll probably remove it. also, this chapter is a little longer than i expected as well, but that isn't that important.

“Scootaloo?”

why does EVERYPONY have to keep waking me up? Wait… is that…

“Pyurs?”

Scootaloo jerked her eyes open in a flash, scanning the room nervously. Magenta eyes met green and Scootaloo launched to her hooves.

“Am I dreaming…?”

“Well, I don’t think I’m a dream… if I am, being a dream is… painful.”

Scootaloo’s mind raced with everything that she knew about dreaming, the intense equations and difficult strategies she learned in school, along with her entire knowledge of the dreamscape including the algorithm of dream-seeing. She calculated the likelihood that she was dreaming and combined everything into one action that would tell the answer to everything.

Then she pinched her side. (What else did you think she would do?)

“Ow… Hey, you’re still here. That means… I’m not dreaming, right?”

“Should I be gone?” Pyrus responded with a confused look that bordered on sarcastic.

Now absolutely certain she wasn’t dreaming, Scootaloo’s emotions exploded from her heart. Relief, anxiety, sorrow, happiness and sadness all flooded her mind at once, and Scootaloo surged forward to the bed, upon which her target laid.
_______

Pyrus jumped, startled, as a tearing, smiling yet frowning filly collided with his injured body in a crushing embrace.

“Oh my gosh Pyrus I’m so sorry I never should have made you go I’m so glad you’re ok please forgive me for hurting you I didn’t mean to make-“

“Scootlaoo. One thought at a time please. I don’t think my head can take many more right now.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Pyrus was uncomfortable to say the least, with an ecstatic young filly crushing his beaten body, which was banging on the door of his brain demanding loudly to be free. There was something there, though, that Pyrus just couldn’t ignore. Some little hitch somewhere within him that kept him from shouting in pain and pushing himself free; Something about Scootaloo being there… made him feel good.

“Anyway, Scoots, Please continue?”

Scootaloo withdrew from the embrace, which Pyrus still couldn’t tell whether he was relieved or unsatisfied by, and looked directly at the ground. A teardrop began to form in the corner of her eye, which she tried to hide by turning her head. Alas, the floor whispered a “plink” as the tear impacted.

“It… it’s all my fault. It’s me that put you here; it’s me who made you injured. It’s ALL my fault… I never would have made you go…”

Pyrus recognized the idea Scootaloo was portraying, and took stock. What she was saying was true of course, but… there was that something again. The hitch told him: Forgive her… Forgive…

“Hey, you don’t need to think like that! It’s not all your fault. I was there too. If I didn’t let you get me up that tree, things would have been different too. You aren’t to blame.”

“But… But I hurt you…”

“Well, my head’s screaming my leg is on the verge of splitting in half, but otherwise I’m fine. It’s only pain, after all.”

“Really? Are you sure you’re okay?”

Pyrus to this day isn’t sure why he turned her face to him, or what drove him to look deeply into Scootaloo’s deep maroon eyes, or why he even felt that he was being completely honest when he said “Absolutely.”
________

Scootaloo looked outside again, some time later. After Pyrus had completely assured her that he was fine and she wasn’t a monster, Scootaloo had recounted the tale of how they had gotten to the clinic in the first place. He was mildly amused when she told him that they had carried him there, and even more so amused when she mentioned Applebloom’s remark on how his being covered in sap was rubbing off on her own mane. Scootaloo had deliberately left out her… episode with Sweetie Bell. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t really want him to hear that. After the story had ended, a somewhat awkward silence fell between the two, which left Scootaloo looking around.

The night was still dark, the moon cast an almost eerie glow on the trees outside. The stars in the sky seemed only there to be there, they were nothing special. Just stars on an average night in ponyville. MY night has been just a teeny bit less than normal, though…

Looking away, she glanced back at Pyrus, and gasped.

Pyrus’s mane was now streaked orange and black again. Like a tiger’s coat, there were stripes that ran down his mane, black and orange reflected the lights to Scootaloo’s eyes.
What the HAY!? How...? what…? WHY? Did his mane just… change colors!?

“Did… did your mane… just… change?”

“Huh? Oh! Well… yes. It’s… it’s a long story.”

Scootaloo sat on her haunches, and looked at her friend with a wayward grin.

“Unless you have somewhere to be, I have time. And by the looks of things… you aren’t going anywhere any time soon.”

“… Fine. I guess I’ll tell you the story…”

She watched him shift into a more comfortable position in the bed, watched as he closed his eyes, and watched as the black mane invaded the orange, slowly phasing and conquering what orange there was, sweeping from the top down like ink drops trickling down a paper.
_______

“I’m sure you remember that I was born in Canterlot. But, I can promise you it isn’t the Canterlot you know. Canterlot has always been the royal city, the pristine and pompous Heart of Equestria. But, that image isn’t necessarily true. Sure, Celestia lives there, and sure, there are some high class dodoes and royalty running around, but there’s more to Canterlot than that. Take me for an example.

“I haven’t told you this yet Scootaloo, but… I don’t know my father. I never knew him. To be honest, I doubt my mom even knows who he is. My mom… well, when I was younger I was little more to her than another pony around to take funds from her precious booze money. Sure, she fed me whenever she wasn’t drunk, and gave me a “home” but there wasn’t much more than that. The 'home' I speak of is nothing more than a 2-room shack in the lower levels of Canterlot.

“Down below the Castle, down under the pompous, pristine towers, there is a pile of tiny, crammed together houses. Hay, the train was higher up than we were. From above, this neighborhood looked like a chess board decided to play a game of monopoly and was interrupted by an earthquake. The ponies that lived there were mostly those who came to Canterlot to get rich, and the ones who drug the rich ones down to their level. This is where my life began.

“I bet you’re wondering what this has to do with my mane, right?” He paused as Scootaloo nodded her head. “Well, my mane used to be completely orange. It was the same color you might see right now, but there was no black. That all changed the year before I got my cutie mark. In that Celestia-forsaken smudge they called a neighborhood, most of the ponies my age were already beating each other up for the bits they found dropped on the street. As you can probably tell, I am not and have never been very strong…”

He looked at his slender shoulder before sighing and continuing.

“As such, I was picked on a lot. But there was one filly, a pegasus named Scribbles Scetchalot, that saw in me what everypony else shook off as weakness. She had a light blue mane, orange fur that was a little brighter than mine, and blue eyes. I met her at school, I don’t even remember how. But I do remember that we’d always, Always been best friends. Scribbles was… more than just a friend to me. Much more like a sister. She and I did everything together, to the point where if we were apart for more than a day the other kids would start to ask if the other was arrested or something (also not uncommon in this neighborhood). A Royal Guard even mistook us for twins once.

“To this day, she is on my mind. What I wouldn’t give to see her again…”

At this point, Scootaloo caught a twinkle on Pyrus’s face, and gasped in shock. He’s… crying? Did she really mean so much to him that moving away moves him to tears?

Pyrus continued. “She… She died three and a half years ago…”

oh

Tears shoved their way out of Pyrus’s eyes now, each one fighting to reach the sheets of the hospital bed first. With his eyes closed, and his voice choking every once in a while, Pyrus forced the story along. “We were on a school trip. I don’t remember what we were doing there; all I remember is that it was in the higher terraces of Canterlot. One of the other colts in our class, a large pegasus pony named Jailbird, thought it would be funny to prank Scribbles and I while we looked over the purple railing at the Canterlot street below us. He and his friend Pile Drive both grabbed us, pushing forward and then immediately after caught us on out fronts while shouting ‘SAVED YOU LIFE!’

“That was the plan anyway. It was less than successful.”

“Pile Drive managed to pull it off. But when Jailbird shoved against Scribbles, she flailed open her wings in panic, which smacked him in the face. That brief moment of pain caused him to forget to catch Scribbles before she went careening over the bars and off the edge. Scribbles could fly, but she needed to get a running start, and it was only for a few moments at a time. The wings she carried couldn’t save her from the hard concrete that moments later received a new coat of paint with a fine layer of my only friend’s crimson blood.”

(DISCLAIMER: i don't own the charicter Scribbles, she belongs to my friend EmilyThePenguin, who has given me permission to use her.)

A Mane, Stained

AN: not much to say here, other than that if another... embarasing error shows up like in the last chapter, comment about it and i'll fix it. please. i don't need that happening again... also, this chapter is the longest so far, just a heads up. now go for it!

An eerie silence fell between the two young ponies. One of them decided not to speak, for fear of bursting into tears once again, as he had barely been able to hold back the ones that were there, end even then some snuck through. The other orange equine was shocked numb by what she had heard, and was currently searching herself for something to say.

The silence continued.

After the silence became more oppressive than Scootaloo’s shock, she found something to say. Simple, yet it worked.

“W-what happened after that…?”

Pyrus mentally shook himself and prepared to continue. After choking trying to swallow sadness, which tasted like tears, he spoke again.

“I… I was shocked. Dumbfounded. I Pushed past Pile Drive and ran down the stairs to see if Scribbles was ok. At one point I tripped, and rolled down the stairs. I was in such a hurry that I got right back up, hardly noticing at all that I had even fallen. I definitely felt that one later... Anyway, when I got to the bottom, the Royal Guards had already taped off the area, and they wouldn’t let me wake her up.

“I couldn’t believe she was gone, so I didn’t. I refused to accept that she had just died. I shut myself in my room, and I waited for her to knock and come in and tell me everything was okay. I didn’t eat, I hardly drank anything, and sleep was out of the question. Even when I tried, all I saw was her falling, over and over again.

“I don’t know how long I was in there; all I know is that by the time I was out, I understood that she wasn’t coming back. By then, I had realized that she had not fallen but that she had been pushed. That didn’t sit well with me. Not at all.
“

I knew Jailbird, he was a large, slate-gray pegasus that lived in our neighborhood, and was often the leader in the robbing of shops, mugging of ponies that strayed in, and my personal torment. Even as a young colt, he had already been arrested twice, and managed to get out on ‘good behavior’ which was probably him threatening or bribing some jail guard to let him out.

“I knew where he lived, and I knew where his gang hung out. There was only one thing left for me to do.

“I wanted revenge. Badly. And he was my target. I spent the next few days getting ready. I knew I was small, and so did he. But he had yet to see, I had recently discovered that I had a small talent for fire magic. Nothing cutie-mark sized, but I still knew quite a bit about what fire magic did and how to use it. So I practiced. I sat in the smudge of concrete that was considered a back yard, and I practiced. I made fire, set things on fire, and even at one point caused a small explosion, though I don’t remember how. After a while, I was ready.

“I set off to the alley that Jailbird’s gang always hung out in. I knew they would be there, it was a Saturday, and they always were there whenever there wasn’t school. I won’t lie, I was a little scared. I had come not to care about myself, but the thought of what would happen if I failed still frightened me. That fear lingered in my stomach as a stomped my way into their alley.

“I could feel the eyes of 2 of Jailbird’s wingstallions, one being Pile Drive, upon me. They laughed at the look on my face, and almost passed out laughing when I demanded to see Jailbird. But they brought him forward anyway. They probably though he would laugh too, and were obviously surprised when he froze, and became very quiet and almost worried. I guess he knew why I was there.

“After that is all a blur in my mind. First thing I remember is launching at him, my tiny body somehow gaining enough speed to knock him over sideways. Next thing I know, his fur is singed, his wingstallions scattered, and I have a black eye and a few bruises. I was on top of him, and angry. Things blurred again, and we had changed position. This time he was behind me, whimpering something about his wings, and I was running away from his wingstallions, who had brought about 6 ponies for back up.

“Small as I was, I was a fast runner. You learn that when you find yourself running from bigger colts every day. Also, being smaller, I could slide under some chain-link fences that my pursuers had to climb or fly over. Eventually I lost them. After that, I wandered home, trying my best to stay stealthy in case I saw another of Jailbird’s gang members again. When I got home, something entirely different caught up to me, something I didn’t expect. Now that I had gotten revenge out of my mind, there was room for depression to hit. And it hit HARD.

“I looked back on everything that had happened to me in the past week or so. Scribbles was gone, Jailbird was likely very broken, and it occurred to me that it was probably my fault. I convinced myself that it was my fault, and it didn’t take too long before I hated myself the same way I hated Jailbird. Once again, I stopped eating, and I spent most of my time sitting in silence hating myself. I used my magic to burn things some that I owned, methodically, one by one. There wasn’t much to burn, so that didn’t last very long. The very last thing I burnt was a picture. A photo of myself, just a little younger, that my mom had somehow gone insane long enough to take.

“The picture gave me an idea; a dark and terrible plan formed in my mind. it’s something I regret ever even thinking about, let alone actually going through with. I found a book in the Canterlot library that explained some of the more powerful fire magic, and I checked it out. The particular spell I wanted to do required a magic seal to be drawn on the ground. A lot of fire-based unicorn magic does.

“Three days after my encounter with Jailbird, I went through with it. I walked out into my back ‘yard’ and, using some chalk, drew a few circles like the book had said. My intention: I had decided that I needed to be in pain like Jailbird had, because Scribbles’ death was my fault.

“I was preparing to light myself on fire. I regret ever doing it.

“The spell it’s self wasn’t very complex, I just altered the seal so that the caster’s circle and target’s circle were in the same place. Sitting down, I powered up my horn and began to charge the ancient equestrian runes that were in the ground. At the same time, I began forming the spell in my head. When the runes were fully charged, I would release the spell. Simple.

“I don’t know what would have happened to me, if Jailbird didn’t take that moment to get back at me.

“He looked terrible. He climbed over my fence while Pile Drive and a few others that I didn’t know flew. When he got to the other side I understood why. His right wing looked like somepony had run over it with a truck, and his left was even worse. Both were bandaged into stiff braces; I guess with wings you can’t put them in casts. He had a look of sheer rage and malice in his eyes, and he bared his teeth to me. ‘Your turn, flankface’ was being chanted by the five large pegasi in front of me.

“I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. One does not simply interrupt or cancel a seal-based spell. Once it’s started, it MUST not be interrupted, by the caster or by outside interaction. Very bad things happen if it is.

Pyrus stopped and sighed deeply before continuing, looking outside. “Scootaloo, it’s really late, you sure you want to hear this?”

Scootaloo, absorbed in the most tragic story she had ever heard, nodded without even looking outside.

“Ok. I’ll keep going I guess…

“Jailbird advanced upon me, grinning ferociously. I tried to warn him, but he was deaf to reason. I yelled over and over not to get any closer or he’d break the seal. He looked down on the ground in front of him where chalk coated the ground. He probably thought I was playing some game. ‘Oh you mean THIS seal?’ on the word seal, he pushed his hoof over the chalk, removing the thin layer on the ground.

“I lost control of the spell. It took hold of my horn, it took hold of my energy I had drained into the runes, and it took me into it’s grasp. It lifted me up into the air and released the emotional energy that I had gathered inside my horn to perform the spell. I closed my eyes hard against the stupidity of Jailbird and prepared for whatever was going to happen next. I heard a gasp, a few angry shouts, and a far off ‘no way’ from Jailbird’s crowd. The spell sucked the energy out, and the rush caused me to open my eyes. I watched as an orange aura of magical energy form around me, and I was told later that my eyes were glowing. That can happen when young unicorns lose control of spells. (I know it happened to a filly who lost control while applying for magic school).

“The aura around me gathered inward, collecting at my horn, and then exploded outward, very… forcefully. Beams of light and pillars of smokeless fire scattered in all directions around my horn, along with a pushing force that threw Jailbird against the fence, wings first. The rest of his crowd were blown away, most of them taking to the air.

“After the explosion, I collapsed to the ground. That much magic is VERY taxing, especially to a young colt who hadn’t eaten in more than a week, so I had no energy left. Such a simple spell… and I couldn’t even pull it off without messing up. Looking around, I saw Jailbird cowering against my fence, and when he saw me look at him he scrambled away in panic and presumably pain.

Pyrus was restless. He eased out of the bed and hobbled over to the mirror hanging on the wall across the room. He ran his hoof through his mane, and his eyes dropped to the ground.

“The spell changed my mane. It was black, completely, like it is now, but without the tiny stripe here. While it used to be bright orange, the spell took some sick joke and turned it black. It didn’t start developing the stripes until later, when I found my cutie mark. Ever since then the color turns with my mood. The happier I am, the more orange stripes there are, and the darker my mood the darker my mane.

“A few days later, Jailbird was arrested for murder. I didn’t talk at his trial against him, I didn’t want to, and I’d already hurt him enough. I don’t know where he is now, I never saw him again. After that I knew not to mess with magic too strong for me again, and I stuck to lighting candles and sometimes a lamp or two. My depression never really lifted until I found my mark. In many ways it still never has… my mane has never been full orange since. There is always a lingering black stripe, no matter what, like the lingering black cloud in the back of my mind, saying ‘You’ll never get her back. Never.’”
Scootaloo sat in awed silence, thinking about what she had heard. there’s more to Pyrus than I thought. He’s always been happy when I was around him, or at least in a positive mood… but after what he’s been though… how? How does he even live?

Pyrus limped his way over to Scootaloo. She was looking at his bed, with a pondering face. Her maroon eyes began to wander, until she found herself examining Pyrus’s mane, and looking into his green eyes. His right one already seemed to be doing better, despite and possibly because of the tears he had shed in the previous hours.

As she looked into them, a few thin, bright streaks ran down his mane, to accompany the first orange one. Just a few, they slowly trickled down to the tips of his mane, adding their accents to the first line. Scootaloo found this odd. Our eyes met… And his mane went a little lighter… Does that mean I made him just a little HAPPIER? But how? I didn’t even say anything…

Pyrus spoke next, his voice a little lighter. “Well, I would offer to walk you home, but I don’t think you’d get there by sunrise if I did. It’s really late. Well, early actually, but my point still stands. You should go home, your parents are probably worried.”

The fact that Pyrus didn’t know about her parents hit her like a rhinoceros. At the same time, it dawned on her just how close to dawn it really was. Resolving to tell him later, she looked at him to ask one last question.

“You’re ABSOLUTLY sure you’re ok?”

Pyrus rolled his eyes. “I’ve been much worse. Trust me. You don’t need to stay here anymore and feel bad. I forgive you. Really.”

Content, at least content enough, Scootaloo nodded. Then she did something that surprised both of them. She jumped up a little and hugged Pyrus. Not hard, not gentle, just a simple hug. She held it for a few seconds, then turned and walked to the hall.

“Hey Scootaloo?”

She stopped and looked back at Pyrus.

“Th-thanks. Thanks for staying with me.”

“That’s what friends are for, Pyrus.” she said automatically. Then Scootaloo walked away. She nodded her head thinking to herself about her last sight of Pyrus, who’s mane now bordered somewhere between black with orange stripes and orange with black stripes.

Pyrus clambered gingerly back into his hospital bed. The lamp had been extinguished, but he wasn’t ready to sleep yet. He lit a small candle he found in the bedside drawer, and levitated the quill and parchment he’d found there as well. He scrawled on the parchment, then rolled it up and lit it on fire. He then quickly extinguished the candle and rolled over to what was likely the most-needed sleep he’d ever find.

Luna’s eyes darted across the parchment that had materialized in front of her, rolled up neatly, with a pop and a little smoke. Smiling lightly, she put the note from Pyrus into the drawer she kept the other notes she got from him time to time. The contents of it repeated in her head over and over, and she looked down into the alley where he had met him. She spoke the letter aloud under her breath.

“Dear Princess Luna,
I am writing to you from the Ponyville Clinic. Don’t worry, I’m fine, I ‘m
fine. I mearly fell off of a zipline and was knocked out for a few hours.
The doctor said I’ll have to stay here for a day, but I’ll be out by the end of the weekend,
unfortunately… but, that doesn’t really bother me. As long as I don’t run out of
parchment or ink I’ll be entertained enough.

On another note, do you remember the night we first met? I’ve been thinking about it.
It’s kinda weird, really, how you came to me in a dark alley asking about a poem I accidentally burnt.
I didn’t know I could send papers by smoke back then. Anyway, I’m really writing to say
I miss you. You were possibly the only real friend I had in Canterlot for a while,
and you were the only close one. I miss you here in Ponyville. I know it’s only been a few weeks,
but the weeks fly by here.

I also have another question, come to think of it. I met a filly here. She’s orange, with a maroon mane,
she’s a pegasus, but she can’t fly. She’s a year younger than me. Her name is Scootaloo.
Long story short, she’s my newest friend. She noticed my mane, so I told her the story.
Afterwards I got really depressed like I always do when I tell that story. I’m sure
you remember when I told you that one. Anyway, I was really sad, but then I looked at her…
And I felt better. Happier. Something inside me… pulled me to her. I know it sounds odd,
it feels odd. But I was happier…

So really, I only have one question.
Do you know what love feels like, and can you tell me?

Your Poet of the Night-
Pyrus Nightwrite.”

Luna spoke to herself some more, a habit she had developed while serving her… time on the moon.

“Of course I remember when we met, Pyrus. How could I forget? If started one of the best friendships I’ve had in a long time. Also, I think I know this ‘Scootaloo,’ she was one of the fillies I had an encounter with this previous nightmare night. In response to your question, yes I know what love feels like, but as for telling you, you’ll have to wait until I can talk to you in person, such a heavy topic cannot be conveyed through a letter. I will be coming to see you some night within this next week. We’ll talk then.”

The Morning After

AN: Not much to say really... Why don't you just read this next chapter? It's simpler that way.

A thin cloud drifted over the half-full moon, masking the pale glow just lightly, like a disk of cream viewed through a sheet of silk. The crunching of the gravel, while usually magnified by the oppressing silence of the alleyway, ground dully at her ears, hardly even registering as a sound. The story that she just heard filled one side of her head, while the other side was making connections, some a little too much for her to be comfortable with.

Applebloom and Sweetie Bell are my best friends. We are almost never seen without at least one of us at the other’s side. We sit next to each other in class, we spend our days playing and trying to find our cutie marks… I can’t imagine life without them. I’ve known Applebloom forever, and Sweetie Bell even longer. To lose one of them…

As she neared her stopping point, she shook off the steadily darkening thoughts that became darker with the setting moon. Before entering the abandoned house, she stepped back to take a look at what she had done with the place. Getting the blankets and sheets to hang over the open maw of the establishment hadn’t been easy, and getting on the roof to hang them was even harder. The sheets were “secured” by putting large rocks and logs on top of the corners, and tying other parts of them to the loose floorboards using spare bailing twine that Applebloom had given her.

There was Applebloom again. Always coming through for her. If it weren’t for Applebloom, she would have a hard time finding any food. Instead, ‘Bloom would bring apples and things for her to eat at lunch, and often offered her dinner. Between that and the spare bits she would find now and again (which she had gotten very good at finding) she could keep herself healthy and sustained without requiring any theft. She sighed, grateful for her assistance.

Stepping quietly through the makeshift curtains, she looked around in the dim light. The collapsing cave she called home had a rough quilt that, while not very thick or wide, kept Scootaloo warm in the cold Equestrian nights. It sat upon a beaten-up mat, probably originally meant for camping. It was a light, thinner sheet of foam. While it was also small and in poor shape, it allowed her to sleep as well. She stepped over the twisted pile that used to be her scooter and slipped into the quilt. She curled up in it as she remembered fondly where she had gotten it.

Back when her parents had died in that accident, she had no way to make the payments on her house, nor did she know how. The police of the town she used to live in wanted to take her away, but she didn’t know where and wasn’t willing to find out. Barely able to read, she packed what little she thought she needed and left the empty house behind. She wandered until she found a train car with the name ‘Ponyville’ written on its side and jumped in. when the train stopped, she hopped out and looked around at what she had decided was to be her new home. A short distance away from the station, she found the broken house. It didn’t have the sheets or the quilt or mat. But it would have to do for now.

Making her way around and exploring the town, she ran into a white unicorn her age. Literally, she ran into her while looking at the town hall. After an introduction, they quickly struck up a friendship that expanded as time passed. They talked at school, and they played after. When Sweetie Bell had finally learned that Scootaloo had no home, she decided she would do what she could.

She took the scraps from Rarity’s dress making, washed them, and stitched them together the best that she could. Slowly but surely she made a basic quilt out of fabric scraps. Part of what made it so warm was the memory of where it came from. She also found half of the sheets hanging off the roof.

Scootaloo reflected on what she had become, and where she would, or more likely wouldn’t, be without them. Sweetie Bell was one of her oldest friends, and she may not even be alive without her help. Applebloom may have been a little more recent, but that didn’t mean she meant any less to Scootaloo. She had no doubt that she needed them, and shuddered at what she would have had to do without them. Theft was one thing that sprang to her mind. Other, darker thought she pushed out, preferring to instead wrap herself in the quilt gift she had had for so long.

Her mind began to wander, as she drifted closer to rest. Reminiscing on Sweetie Bell and Applebloom, and eventually finding herself concentrating on Pyrus. He was rapidly becoming a great friend. He was one of the only colts she had ever really gotten along with. I guess that doesn’t really surprise me, look at Snips or Snails, there hasn’t been many colts to be good friends with. The only other colt she got along with was Featherweight, and he was a very quiet pony, and was always focused on the newspaper. Pyrus though… she felt he was already a great friend. He had just revealed something to her, something she had a feeling he hadn’t told many other ponies.

Maybe… Maybe he’s more than just a good friend…

With that, she again drifted into deep sleep.

*****

Sunday Morning… Sunday morning in a hospital bed. There are so many better things I could be doing right now… like sleeping. Not being examined by this guy.

Pyrus knew that Doctor Stable meant well, it was just tedious and boring. He had never liked mornings, they meant exhaustion from the nights he always spent walking or writing or both. Sunday and Saturday mornings were when he slept, if he slept. If not sleep, he felt he could be writing, or thinking about things, not answering the questions from the doctor.

“Does this hurt, Pyrus?” the doctor asked not unkindly as he pushed slightly on his bandaged leg.

Yes. “Nope, it doesn’t”

Pyrus wanted Doctor Stable to leave him alone, so he lied about some of the questions. It was pretty obvious his lies were meeting disbelieving ears, but the owner of these ears didn’t question him. Stable continued his examination, looking at all his major bruises and eventually replacing the bandage on his leg. While Pyrus felt he was betraying himself, he found the injury interesting. The injury didn’t seem to be a broken leg, but more of a massive bruise. It’s swollen green mass enveloped the outside of his hind leg and had been split open by the impact.

“You’re absolutely sure this doesn’t hurt?” the doctor.

“Positive.”

“Well… just to be sure…”

The doctor told him the situation. He’d have to spend the rest of the day, and the night, resting in the hospital. They would check him out in the morning. Just in time for school… thought Pyrus sullenly.
While he liked school, and more importantly the ponies he knew he’d see at school, he disliked the atmosphere, and algebra was killing him. Not to mention he’d already fallen asleep twice in history.

The doctor then went over the information about the biggest of his injuries, his leg. It had suffered a large impact, and the doctor said the bone was bruised. Pyrus didn’t believe him at first, but Doctor Stable explained to him that when the tough fibers on the outside of the bone called “periosteum” were hit hard by the tree, the blood vessels underneath burst causing the bone to literally bruise.

“I can release you tomorrow morning, but you’ll need to rest the bone for a few weeks.” The doctor told him. “No kicking anything, and try to avoid being hit by anything.”

“Ok doc. Thanks for helping me out.”

“My pleasure. Is there anything else I can do before I go?”

“I don’t think so. Has my mother come by yet?”

“No, I… I don’t think she has. Should I send someone to go get her?”

Pyrus’s eyes widened and his heart monitor started beeping a little faster. “NO! Uh… sorry, but she’ll show up on her own…” she’ll probably be drunk to…

Visibly startled at Pyrus’s shout, Doctor Stable assured Pyrus that should he ever need anything just give a nurse or himself a call and left to go help another patient.

*****

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Of all the things he thought, he never thought he would ever be this bored. A small stack of parchment lay on the table next to the bed, each one scrawled on in different ways. Some had been crumpled up, others were flawless, others still had lines etched through the words. On top of the paper sat two broken blue quills and a nearly empty inkpot. Orange aura surrounded a third quill, this one red with a white stripe, as it hovered in front of yet another parchment, completely empty.

Pyrus looked at the clock. Exactly 3 hours, 21 minutes, and 35 seconds had passed since the doctor had left, and he was already contemplating setting the building on fire just to get out of it. How am I gonna SURVIVE this!? I’ve written more today than I have in the past two weeks, and I’ve officially run out of ideas. And it’s only been three hours!

He looked around at the same bland white room, and then out the same old window, at the same old building, with the same old “YOLO” sprayed in ugly green and yellow in the alley. He took in the surroundings, again, and found himself wondering if he’d ever forget what the room looked like. He stared at everything he could possibly stare at until it all was completely and utterly painted in his brain. Am I really reduced to memorizing a room?

Taking one final look at the parchment, Pyrus had an idea, which briefly surprised him. His quill licked its way across the
page.

Dear Princess Luna
I know you’re probably asleep right now, but I wanna talk to you.
You can’t come soon enough. This hospital is more boring than that time we
decided to watch the snail race the turtle. How soon can you come?
Your very bored poet,
Pyrus Nightwrite
p.s. I’m bored.

Reading over the poorly written letter, he ignited his horn and sent it off. Orange-green smoke flowed out of the open window and of in the direction of the capitol city of Equestria. Moments later, a swirl of fire shot out of his horn, spinning like a hot little whirlwind (and almost catching the bed on fire). The fire evaporated into smoke, and then imploded to form a parchment tied into a roll with a dark purple ribbon, the Night Princess’s favorite color.

Excitedly, Pyrus unrolled the letter and read it.

My dear friend
I know you thought I’d be asleep. But I personally can’t seem to sleep today. Ironic, isn’t it?
It’s usually your job to be awake all the time. Anyway, I’ve actually taken time off tonight,
so you can expect a visit tonight. I’m quite excited, aren’t you? It’s been too long since we’ve
had had the chance to talk at length. And yes, I still have your question in mind.
Your Lunar Princess
p.s. You’re bored? Try sitting on a royal court someday, you’ll know the true meaning of bored.

Smiling inwardly at the joke, Pyrus laid the note on top of the pile of parchment at the bedside table. At least I have something to look forward to... Pyrus looked at the clock. “3 hours, 47 minutes, 21 seconds. I really wish I knew some time spells.”

*****

“Well, what are we gonna do today Applebloom?”

“I don’t know, Sweetie Bell. Any ideas Scootaloo?”

“What? Oh, uuuhhh, nope. I got nothing.”

“Scoots, you sure you’re feeling ok? You seem distracted, and you’ve got Applebloom and me kinda worried.”

“Well… I’ve been thinking. That’s all.”

“Bout what?”

Applebloom and Sweetie Bell both looked at Scootaloo with curiosity. They were in their usual spot at Sweet Apple Acres, where Applebloom had worked her own personal brand of magic. A hoof/mouth drawn map adorned to the wall behind Scootaloo, with several notes and crosses. The once splintered windowsills were now redone and painted, and the holes that dotted the walls repaired. Scootaloo would commonly remind Applebloom that she was impressed at how expertly it had been done, and impressively, in a single afternoon.

Carefully, Scootaloo picked out her words. “Well, I’m worried. After you two had gone last night, I stayed with Pyrus in the hospital. We all know I don’t have anywhere better to go. He woke up, but… he didn’t look too good.” Scootaloo decided to leave out the story she had been told.

“Well, it’s good that he’s awake… He had me a little worried too.” Sweetie Bell said. The memory of Scootaloo’s explosion was still vivid in her mind, and a look of concern crossed her face before Sweetie was able to suppress it. Luckily, neither of her friends noticed.

“Why don’t you girls go and check up on him? Applebuck season is commin’ up and Granny Smith said ah’m not to run off, so ah can’t go with you, but you two can go see him.”

It was quickly agreed that that was a good plan. Sweetie Bell promised Applebloom she’d tell her about it, and then her and Scootaloo began the walk to the hospital. On the way, they talked about school, and how miss Cheerilee was assigning more homework than usual. They had a short discussion about a possible cutie mark in flower picking when Sweetie Bell had discovered a pretty flower that Scootaloo had missed, which quickly turned into an argument about weather that was even a valid mark. After a quick truce, they decided to take a break.

“I wish your scooter hadn’t broken in that crash… I don’t like walking.” Sweetie Bell sat down promptly on the side of the road.

“Yeah, me too. I’d ask Applebloom to help fix it, but with Applebuck season around the corner, I don’t know if she’ll have time.” Scootaloo sighed.

“Hey, Scoots? Are you feeling okay? You seemed a little… stressed last night.”

“I don’t know Sweetie… I’m sorry I stormed at you like that. It wasn’t right for me to take out my frustration on you.”

“That’s ok, that’s what friends are for, right? And besides, you were right to feel a little guilt, though I don’t think it was entirely your fault.” Sweetie looked her friend in the magenta eye. “Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time one of us ended up in the hospital. Remember when Applebloom bet you couldn’t climb that oak tree?”

Scootaloo chuckled. “I’ve never seen bees that angry before!”

Sweetie giggled, and the two friends set off again.

“Sweetie Bell, I’ve known you ever since I came to Ponyville. You… you’ve been my friend through so much. You even offered me a place to live…” Scootaloo’s heart began to grow heavy, sinking, and yet floating as if it had grown a pair of butterfly wings. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for everything you’ve done.”

Sweetie swung her face over to her best friend, and stopped to put a hoof on her shoulder. “Having you as a friend is payment enough. Besides, you’ve done just as much for me. Those times Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon teased us, you were there to stand up for me.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Scootaloo grinned. “Maybe your cutie mark is hiding behind me!” she teased.

Rolling her eyes, Sweetie Bell shoved her friend lightly and resumed walking. “C’mon, Scoots. We’ve got an injured unicorn to see.”

Side by side, the pony pair trotted towards the hospital coming up into view on the horizon.

Mom, Milkshakes, and Many Lessons

Ice cream. I could really use some ice cream. Maybe a milkshake. Even a good fudge bar. Pyrus thought. He pictured a frothing vanilla milkshake, and imagined what it would taste like. Yep. Definitely a milkshake.

Pyrus sighed and adjusted his position in the overly-white bed. He closed his eyes and remembered back to the times back in Canterlot. One day in particular, years before he had even met Luna, stuck it’s self out in his mind. Scribbles and he had just gotten out of school, and her parents were working late that day, so they had a few hours to walk around Canterlot and hang out.

“Sweet Scoop’s Ice Cream? I’ve never been there. Wanna try it out?” Scribbles had asked energetically.

“I’m not really in the mood for ice cream. I don’t have any money either…” Pyrus had replied, surly over the jeering they had received from bullies as they left the school together.

Scribbles, carefree as always, had completely gotten over the jeering. “I do. Come on Pyrus, I’ll get you a milkshake, or something! Pleeeeeease!?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go. A milkshake it is,” Pyrus gave Scribbles a smirk. “Even if it is just to get you to be quiet.”

Scribbles rolled her eyes and dragged Pyrus inside. A friendly looking mare with an off-white coat and strawberry pink mane greeted the pair with a grin from behind the counter. “Welcome to my shop. If you’re looking for ice cream you’ve come to the right place.” The mare had a silky voice, one that reminded Pyrus of frozen yogurt. “What can I get for you?”

“You know you don’t have to do this, right?” Pyrus said.

“I know. I want to.” Scribbles replied, then said to the unicorn behind the counter “Two milkshakes please. Strawberry for me.”

“And for you?” the mare looked at Pyrus

“… How about vanilla?”

“Certainly! That’ll be eight bits.”

“Uh oh. Um… I… only have four…”

“Here,” the mare said, then pulled four shiny bits out from the register with an understanding grin. “The other half is on the house.” With that, she accepted the golden bits from Scribbles thankful hooves and gave them their respective orders. After sitting down, they discussed some little things, teased each other a little in a friendly manner, and enjoyed their treats. After again thanking the mare who, as they had discovered, was named the same as, and owned, the store, the pair left.

“I knew it would make you feel better.” Scribbles said as Pyrus followed her out the door.

Pyrus sighed. She was right.

That store became a place the two went often, after that day. They got to know Sweet Scoop well, and they were regulars there, showing up at least once weekly, and even sometimes daily. They sometimes ordered actual ice cream, and every once in a while when they could afford it they would get sundays, but Pyrus usually found himself returning to the simple milkshake.

The memories were as sweet as vanilla.

*****

“So you’re saying that they won’t let you back into the bowling alley here? All because of a little accident?”

“No, no, that accident was anything but little. It was hard enough trying to convince them it was an accident and not a terrorist attack.”

The two fillies had reached the hospital, and after a small discussion confirming that Pyrus was indeed fine and will be out tomorrow morning for school, the pair had launched into a story about a particular bowling alley and the mayhem they had caused. Scootaloo sat on one side of the bed, while Sweetie Bell had taken the other. Both were relieved to see that he was ok, almost as relived as Pyrus was to see them in the first place.

“I’m glad you guys came… this place is more boring than-“

CRASH

“Uhh… what in Equestria was that?” Sweetie Bell asked to nopony in particular.

Another sound of destructive nature ensued from the hallway, this one sounding a little closer.

“You two might want to take shelter. I’d suggest the bathroom, over there” Pyrus indicated with his hoof.

Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Bell, and both gave a decisive nod. The duo headed into the bathroom and closed the door so that only a small crack remained, which they peeked through. A very large, very upset looking brown unicorn stumbled into the room just as they had gotten into position. She had a greasy yellow main, a cutie mark that resembled a pile of quart-bit pieces, and a piece of paper floated in front of her with a dark yellow glow that reminded Scootaloo of tree sap. Sweetie Bell mumbled something incoherent underneath Scootaloo as she watched.

“Hi Mom. How are you today? Is there some kind of problem?”

“Mom?” Scootaloo whispered to Sweetie, who just shrugged and kept watching.

“Of course there’s a problem. See this!?” Pyrus’s mom spoke in a gravelly voice, angry, with a touch of tired slur. She shoved the paper into Pyrus’s face. He pulled it off and studied it for a moment.

“Ok, they charge based on income. On your lack thereof, this will cost what,” Pyrus looked at the paper again, “50 bits? That’s nothing.” Pyrus replied calmly, almost over controlled in Scootaloo’s opinion.

“Nothing?” Her voice rose. “Nothing!? You mean that that 50 bits, which is the difference between my favorite hard cider and cheap-flank knockoffs of said cider is NOTHING!?”

“Yes. Nothing. You should be using that money to buy something else instead. Food maybe? So I wouldn’t have to buy it all myself?”

“You worthless piece of-“

Dr. Stable was suddenly in the room, with two security guards following behind. He looked annoyed. “Mrs. Glass, I’m
afraid I must ask you to leave. You’re disturbing the patients.”

“Yeah, you and what army?” ‘Mrs. Glass’ replied harshly, before catching a glimpse of the burly guard-stallions. “Oh. Fine, but I’m not paying this bill.” She threw the paper behind her and allowed the guards to escort her out of the room. As she left, she looked back at Pyrus with a toxic glare. “We’ll talk later.” It was a threat.

As she left, Dr. Stable sighed deeply, and looked at Pyrus. “What a mess. Did she… Did she mean it when she said she wouldn’t pay?”

“Unfortunately, she doesn’t joke about that kind of thing often. I’m pretty sure she means it.” Pyrus replied. His horn light up, and out from Pyrus’s saddlebag (which Scootaloo had remembered they left at the zipline and brought over, to the thanks of Pyrus) came a few bits. He counted up the coins, and frowned. A few streaks appeared on his already highly darkened mane.

“I don’t think I have enough… here’s 20 bits. I’ll… I’ll find some way to pay the rest off later?”

“Pyrus. The Ponyville Clinic is completely non-profit. This is why we change by income. Unless you have a steady income, 20 bits will be more than enough. Hold on to those though, we’ll take them when you get to the front desk.”

With a final assurance that things were fine, and a somewhat worried glance from the departing doctor, Pyrus motioned
for his friends. Scootaloo opened the door and the ponies walked back to the bedside.

“Meet my mother, Glass Shard. She’s the best mother a pony could ask for.” Pyrus’s cold sarcasm froze the hatred that Scootaloo glimpsed flashing briefly in his eyes. “She drinks heavily, forgets I exist every once in a while, has astounding anger issues, and her only income comes from social security checks, or convincing others to give her money. She’s good at that. Any questions?”

Scoots and Sweetie sat silently, shocked by the sudden change in Pyrus. Sweetie looked at the door, then back at Pyrus. “W-What did you mean by food?”

“Well, she spends all the money she gets on booze. All of it. I end up buying most of the food.” Pyrus said with a touch of venom.

“Where do you get the money then?” Scootaloo asked. “Bits on the ground can only get you so far.” Scootaloo spoke before her mind caught up and slapped her in the face. She had just said too much, and she knew it. Pyrus looked at Scootaloo with a questioning glance before shrugging and answering.

“Well, I used to sell my poems to the Canterlot bookstore and even once got one put into the archives… but I haven’t found anypony here yet that wants to buy anything. I had some money saved up… but I’m starting to run a bit dry…”

Sweetie squeaked out excitedly “Twilight could probably help with that! She loves to read and stuff!”

Pyrus smiled, though there was a small bit of confusion written on his face. He looked outside, then at the clock next to him. “Wow. It’s about time I hit the hay. It’s getting late. I think you two should probably head home too… we’ve all got school tomorrow. Thanks again for coming here. And… sorry you had to see mom… that wasn’t something I expected. I hope you’re not too afraid of me now.”

Scootaloo didn’t think Pyrus looked too tired, and judging by last night she knew he didn’t sleep much. His mane hasn’t lightened up yet… He was fine before his mom came. Now it’s almost as dark as it was last night. That can’t be good…
I wonder if there’s something I can say to cheer him up.

“Well, I guess we should go, Scoots. See you tomorrow Pyrus.” Sweetie began walking out the door.

“You go ahead, I’ll… I’ll catch up.” Scootaloo called to Sweetie. Giving her an eyebrow raised, Sweetie walked out slowly.

Turning to Pyrus, Scootaloo allowed her face to darken slightly, and frowned. She lifted a lock of Pyrus’s mane, and let it fall back down. Concern flowed down her face, and she looked Pyrus in the eye, with her own nearly tear-filled. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help.” She whispered, then turned and left.

“What was that all about, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Bell had asked when Scootaloo emerged from the hospital room.

“Some things just take too long to explain, Bell. This is one of them.”

*****

Scootaloo certainly gave me enough to think about… I wonder when Luna will get here. I really need to talk to her.

Silence gripped the hospital. A single light was in the window of a treehouse close by. Somepony else is awake right now… I wonder who it is. I wonder why I wonder about such things. Maybe it’s because I’m lonely… Pyrus felt himself drifting into past memories, in a time where he wasn’t lonely, even while being an outcast. He had a friend, a friend he missed dearly. Recently he felt that feeling of not being lonely returning, with something new he could not yet explain. He thought he liked it, but wasn’t sure.

Questions buzzed in his head, making his mind tingle. So many he knew he needed to ask, others he was afraid to even think. He knew that soon the time would come for answers, at least he hoped. If anyone could answer them, it had to be Luna.

Where is she anyway? It’s been a long time since the moon rose, where could she… oh.

Pyrus slipped out of the bed that he lay upon and waked to the beam of moonlight that was streaming in from the glass in the wall. He silently cursed himself for not opening the window and let his friend and princess in.

“Sorry, Princess, I totally forgot. How long were you out there?”

“Long enough to brighten the moon up and shine it directly in the window. I thought I’d have to put you to sleep and tell you in a dream to open the blasted window!” Luna’s voice teased through the darkness. “Still, it’s good to see you, Pyrus. How’s your… ouch! How are you even walking?”

“Painfully,” Pyrus hissed. “It isn’t too bad, I’ve had worse. It’s good to see you’re still in princess prime shape. How have
the courts been?”

The princess frowned, groaned, and gave Pyrus a look that said ‘Are you really asking me that question?’

“Well, at least your sense of humor wasn’t injured. Lucky for you. For me… not so much,” Luna sighed.

“Hey, my sense of humor is better than a timberwolf’s sense of direction. And I don’t mean the ones who get lost and end up wandering into the Canterlot garden.”

Luna and Pyrus both glared at each other for a moment. Luna snickered, causing Pyrus to respond in kind. Before long, they were both laughing uncontrollably.

“Ahahaha! Oh, I missed you, Pyrus. Canterlot is so… boring without you there to lighten things up. How has the house been treating you? Not bad, huh?”

“Yeah, thanks for that anyway. I don’t know where you got it, or how, but it’s working really well.”

Luna winked. “Well, it was once a station for one of my Nightguards. He was moving out, so I made sure it got put into the right hooves. You know, in the realm of home ownership, you’re a Nightguard yourself.”

“Cool.”

Pyrus and Luna fell silent for a moment. Luna looked around, then at her young friend. “There is a reason you’re here. I can feel it. I can also see it in your mane, but that’s beside the point.”

Pyrus felt a spreading feeling in his gut, as if a flower was blooming nervousness within him. “Yeah, uh… yes. I have a… question…”

“Well, I probably have answers. I may not be quite as wise as my sister, but I can probably answer your question.”

Come on, man, just ask her. It’s not like you haven’t had awkward conversations with her before… “Princess, can you… can you tell me what love feels like?”

Luna was quiet for a moment before speaking. “I’d ask you where that question came from, but I think I already know, and I know you won’t answer anyway. First off, there are many different types of love, and each one feels different. Also, everypony experiences each kind differently, so I cannot tell you what it is you feel, only what I feel for each kind. So I can’t give you a full explanation, as that can only come from within yourself.”

“I understand, princess.” Pyrus said, trying his best to mask his disappointment. “Please keep going.”

“Ok.” Luna walked to the other side of the room, where she turned and looked at Pyrus. “There are, as I said, many
kinds of love.

“There’s the love my sister and I feel for all our subjects. There is care and concern, even if we’ve never known them before, and they are important to us. However, I have a feeling that’s not exactly what you meant.

“The next ‘type’ of love is within families. The care and concern are there, but there is also some genuine love, one that comes from being together, whether you like it or not. Celestia and I love each other very much, because we’ve always know each other. It’s… difficult to explain, honestly. The love is kinda… assumed. For many, this is the strongest kind of love.
Others….” Luna paused while she looked at Pyrus and pointed towards him vaguely. “not so much.

“The third kind is the bond that forms between friends. This is also for many the strongest love. This love is formed through trials, failures, and successes, as well as with simply hanging out. This is the one I feel towards you, and I’d hope you feel for me.” She added with a taste of sarcasm. “Personally, I feel a lot of longing to spend time with the people I love this way. It’s pretty powerful, but not quite a feeling of… giving one’s whole self to another. Which brings me to the fourth type of love.

“This one most refer to as love to begin with. This is the love felt between couples. The one most consider the strongest, and the one many long for. It is a love for a friend, intensified, until both ponies feel like they must be together forever. It drives many ponies insane. It is considered one of the natural magic forces, along with the elements of harmony, chaos, hatred, and fear. It is also, unfortunately, the one I know the least about. I have only felt this kind of love once… and before you ask I do not want to talk about her-I mean, uhh, IT.” Pyrus gave Luna a confused look, which Luna burned off him with a stare. The princess recovered quickly. “Anyway, when I felt this love I felt a sort of soft tug upon my horn, and almost a light feeling in my wings, like I wouldn’t need to use them to fly. It was rather odd. It would likely be different for you.”

“I see… anything more on that last one felt between couples?” Pyrus asked.

“I’m sorry, Pyrus, I don’t know anything more about that. But I do have one more to tell you, and warn you, about.

“Many ponies would argue this isn’t love at all. Others think it’s all love is. It’s been called many things, but for now I will simply refer to it as lust. Be very wary of lust.” Luna warned. Pyrus nodded quickly to show his understanding.

A moment of silence passed by, then another, and another until they passed like a train moving slowly and awkwardly on a mud-covered track. Pyrus sat pondering what he had just heard.

“So, wait a minute. You say that the love between ‘friends’ and ‘lovers’ is very similar.” Pyrus asked Luna, who nodded. “So, where does one draw the line between the two?”

“That, my dear friend, is a question only your heart can answer. As cliché as it sounds, it’s true. I know not where to draw the line myself.” Luna walked over to Pyrus and wrapped a wing around his midsection and pulled him close. She whispered softly: “When you find the answer within your heart, you will know. And I think you know where to start looking.”

AN: I know there's a section of the actual story submission page that says authors notes, but i don't care. screw the rules, i'm doing it this way. Something interesting happened to me during this chapter. (besides getting halfway through and my computer saying "nope" and deleting the whole thing) i, for some reason, actually felt nervous while i was writing about Luna's lesson. i know it's probably a common thing, but i guess it means i'm writing from the heart.

Apples? What Apples?

AN: Well, it's been what now, two months? This chapter needed to be made. I still don't like it, but if i simply don't release anything, i have a feeling that it would drive you guys as crazy as it drives me to not release, so... yeah. Here it is. Go read it.

They say freedom comes with a cost. This was painfully true for Pyrus the next Monday morning. While he was free from the boring interior of the hospital, he was not free from the school he was forced to attend. And while he was free from the hospital bed, he was also free from the painkillers.

Holy Gates of Tartarus this hurts! Okay, Pyrus, you have to walk now. Just take it one step at a time. It’s just out the door, and I can rest. Slowly, wincing with each step, the injured unicorn limped towards the door that led to the playground and picnic tables where lunch was consumed. In his saddlebag jostled his lunch, a dandelion and tulip sandwich with a side of lemonade (which he had bought from a few fillies selling it on his way to the school despite knowing he didn’t have much money left), and a small cookie.

On his leg, he wore a white bandage, covered with signatures. Mr. Lettergrade had insisted the class sign his bandage, much to the embarrassment of Pyrus, even though it was a bandage and not a cast. He had trouble thinking in Algebra, more than he usually had, and had generally had a bummer morning. But this was lunch time, a time to… well, he didn’t think he had much to look forward to there either. Pyrus sighed as he inched through the hallway.

Eventually, he made his way through the doorway. Having been slowed down by both the unwillingness to move in general and his injury, the tables were all mostly full. Pyrus squinted and scanned for a place that was relatively empty, where he could sit and try to eat his lunch without being disturbed. He was just noting how there didn’t seem to be any when he say a trio of fillies waving at him. Oh yeah. I forgot I have friends. How in Equestria did I forget that?

More or less filled with a bit more energy Pyrus made dragged himself a little faster.
*****

“So this has been a really good season, and I’m s’posed to go and try to find some ponies who are willing to help out with the Applebuckin’” Applebloom said as Pyrus arrived and sat down gingerly.

“How can one season be better than another? I mean, apple trees don’t suddenly sprout up, do they?” Scootaloo asked.

“You don’t remember the ZapApples?” Sweetie Bell answered, to the amusement of Applebloom.

“Anyway, my point is I want y’all to help me!” Applebloom said with finality.

“Um… help with what? The ‘Applebucking’ or the looking for ponies for ‘Applebucking’ part? Also, could somepony care to explain to me what the hay applebucking is? I think I may have missed that part.” Scootaloo jumped at Pyrus’s voice next to her. She had not heard him sit down next to her.

“Woah! H-hi Pyrus. What brings you here today?”

“If I remember right, you three did…”

“Oh… Yeah. Right. Well, welcome to… here then.”

Applebloom gave a sideways glance to her stuttering friend, who simply motioned for Applebloom to continue.

Applebloom locked away a question she meant to ask the pegasus, and began launching into an explanation on the magic of the seasons, and how applebucking was a part of the Apple family tradition. She went into great detail about how, even if modern technology could do it in half the time with slivers of the energy, the traditional way always seemed to make the apples taste better. She offered a spare apple slice to Pyrus as proof. When he agreed, ‘Bloom continued, telling about how last year’s crop, while it had proven too much for her big sister to handle by herself, was a smaller crop than this year’s. By the end, Pyrus was wondering if he was really still in class.

“So really, I want you to help me with the bucking itself. Applejack said I’m big enough this year to help out, and she thinks that y’all might be able to help us.”

Scootaloo immediately jumped at the opportunity, saying things like ‘I have nothing better to do’ and ‘I’d love to hang out.’ Sweetie Bell took a little longer to think, but eventually agreed.

“Well, I’d love to help… but I don’t think I’ll be able to buck anything.” Pyrus said as he looked at his back leg. Scootaloo shrunk a little in her seat.

“Hmm… that could be a problem… well, we wouldn’t be doing It till next weekend. If you’re not any better by then, I’ll ask Applejack if there’s anything you can do. Pleeease come help?” Applebloom pleaded, complete with a face that would stop a charging Ursa. Unprepared for the begging battle, Pyrus sighed and nodded that he would do whatever he could.

“Yay! So, next Friday, we’ll all meet at the clubhouse after school. Agreed?” Applebloom said with finality.

“Agreed,” everypony else chanted.
*****

The next Friday, Pyrus found himself feeling a lot better. He healed very quickly, and while his leg was still a little sore, he could walk with ease, trot without hesitation, canter for almost as far as he used to be able to, and even sprint short distances. Doc was amazed at this healing, also muttering something about how he wished he was young again.

Tuesday had gone a little better than Monday had, but still ranked low in the terms of luck. Wednesday saw a purple guest speaker talking about the Natural Magics, specifically the elements of harmony, which had brightened Pyrus’s day considerably. Thursday he took a test on magic, resulting in an expected low grade on everything but fire magic, which he aced. The entire week, he had spent his lunch hours with the Crusaders, getting to know each of them fairly well. He played and hung out with them after school every day but Wednesday, where he had gone home to study for the upcoming test.

The nights he did his usual business, walking around, writing a bit, and getting lost in fond memories of the good days in Canterlot. The days when he played with his long lost friend, the days he would never forget.

Finally, Friday arrived. Pyrus packed his saddlebags, climbed the ladder out of his room, snuck upstairs, and opened the door to leave. His blood ran with ice when he heard the too-familiar voice of his hung-over mother.

“Where the buck are you going? And why the buck are you packing so much food? Planning on running away again? Or maybe you’re trying to starve me so you can have all the cider for yourself.”

Pyrus dug the tip of his hoof into the hardwood floor and closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. It didn’t work. “While both of those are good ideas, I don’t think I’ll be doing either today. I am simply packing dinner along with me, I’ll probably be out late tonight.”

“Yeah, and I’m an alicorn. Fine. Go ahead, run away, see if I care. They’ll just drag your sorry flank back here and put a lock on your door, just like they did last time. I’ll bet they’ll even use the hoofcuffs and throw you in jail for a few days. No paper there. Nope, nothing to write on but the cold, hard walls surrounding you. What do you think about that?”

Pyrus didn’t think it sounded good. He fought to control his anger, and turned as calmly as he could out the door without finishing the conversation. He knew she would forget it even happened, or at least be too drunk to remember it by the time he got home.

Outside the door, Pyrus casually plucked a wrinkled dead leaf from a tree and concentrated his energies. He focused his anger into the leaf and let loose a small fire spell that consumed the leaf in a matter of seconds.

Continuing on his march to school, Pyrus thought about what he was about to take part in. through even further explanation from Applebloom, Pyrus’s job was one of the more simple ones. He would assist Big Macintosh in the cart pulling and collection of the apples, from the orchard where Applejack, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Applebloom herself were bucking them from the trees. They all agreed this would be the better role to play for Pyrus, with his injured leg. While it may have healed up almost in full, the ‘almost’ part was enough to make Applejack refuse to allow Pyrus to kick the solid apple wood. Applebloom told me that her sister told her that even if I was a little weak I could pull the apple carts. I think she may have meant weak in my leg, not generally a weak pony like me… still, I’m gonna try my best. ‘A for Effort” right?

Pyrus sighed. Worry always got the better of him in these situations.
*****

“APPLES!”

“Um… no, Pyrus, the inner magic necessary to perform a conjuration spell is not apples. Maybe next time you won’t fall asleep during an oral exam.”

“Sorry Mr. Lettergrade. It won’t happen again.”

“I should hope not.”

Aw, haybiscuit I fell asleep again! And of course I was dreaming about apples. Why wouldn’t I be dreaming of apples?
*****

The schoolhouse buzzed with excitement as Pyrus clacked his way out of the building. A long weekend was coming up. With the Running of the Leaves next Monday, class was canceled so students could participate. Even if most of the ponies were only coming to watch, it was nonetheless a large town event.

Pyrus buzzed for a different reason. As the first formal hanging out with his new friends, Pyrus felt the excitement of company fill him. Even if it was working, he still was determined to have some fun with it. And the exercise would be good for his recovering leg, or so he was told.

“Well, youngins, let’s get goin’. You wouldn’t want to leave your sister waiting would ya, Applebloom?” A very old green pony with an apple pie cutie mark said as Pyrus joined the group.

“Wait granny! Sweetie Bell ain’t here yet! And I haven’t introduced ya to my new friend!” Pyrus found himself suddenly standing in front of the ancient pony. Having been put there by Bloom, he was momentarily confused, but quickly got a hold on himself. “Granny Smith, this is Pyrus Nightwrite. He’s a new pony here, just moved in from Canterlot!”

“Canterlot, eh? You sure he’s cut out fer this kind of work?” Granny Smith said as she shook the orange foal’s hoof. She examined him with what Pyrus could only guess was a knowing eye. She paused at his back leg’s bandage.

“Trust me, ma’am. I’m not from that part of Canterlot. I will do everything I can to help out as much as I can.” Pyrus said with fake confidence. It was a trick he learned trying to stand up to bullies in Canterlot. “Even with my… complication.”

It seemed to work. Granny said she would give him a shot. Scootaloo sighed a gentle relief. Pyrus’s ear twitched to the sound, but he decided to reserve his question for later. After a moment they were joined by a very distraught white filly who mumbled something about forgetting before apologizing for her tardiness. With a final nod from Applebloom, the group set off.
*****

“Well I hope y’all are ready. We’re about to teach you about the art of Applebuckin’. Ain’t that right, Macintosh?”

“Eeyup.”

“Well, then, where do we start? How bout the basics?”

“Eeyup”

A fairly long walk and a session of introductions later, the Apple family had begun their crash course on applebucking. While Applejack demonstrated the method to the girls, Big Macintosh motioned to Pyrus to follow him. As he departed, Scootaloo struggled to learn the surprisingly difficult art of bucking trees and getting apples.

“Any pony with a pulse can kick a tree and have some apples fall off. The trick is getting them to fall precisely into the baskets. It takes some practice, but ah’m sure you three will get it.”

Applebloom was going nuts. She bucked the tutoring tree several times, very quickly. Ranting about how her cutie mark had to have something to do with apples, she violently attacked the tree. Until an apple bonked her on the head.

“Ow! Now what was that for!?” she yelled at the tree. Sweetie Bell stifled a giggle, and Scootaloo laughed openly.

“Yer just not quite doing it right. It takes precision, and not necessarily all yer force, ‘Bloom. Here, let me show ya.”
Applejack said through giggle of her own. Explaining the finer points of the tree trunk and how they shook the branches in different ways, she gently continued het tutoring.

I wonder how Pyrus is doing… he seems confident, but I don’t know... he’s got to be as nervous as I am. At least about the apples. Come on Scoots, you don’t know if he feels that same thing you do, so just wait and watch. Besides, the only reason you’re nervous about being with him is BECAUSE of that feeling.
*****

Pyrus found him intimidating. He was about four times bigger than he was, and had a voice just as much deeper. And yet, he spoke gently in a way that Pyrus found rather comforting. One thing was for sure though. There was a reason they called him ‘Big’ Macintosh.

“Y’all sure you can handle this, hayseed?” the deep bass asked as Pyrus fit himself to the cart that Mac had pulled out of the farm’s storage shed. “Ah don’t wanna see you hurtin’ yerself.”

“Yeah, I think I can take it. They’re just apples, right? How heavy can they be?” Pyrus said with certainty. His spirit was lightened when he found out how light the cart was.

“A lot heavier than you’d think, hayseed. Be sure ya don’t bite off more than you can chew.” Big Mac had taken to calling him hayseed. Pyrus didn’t mind the nickname. “Ah hurt mahself last year, and I couldn’t pull the carts. There’s no shame in stoppin’ rather than hurtin yerself even more.”

“Thanks, Mac. I’ll keep that in mind.” Pyrus appreciated his concern, but it was getting a little annoying having everypony underestimate him.

Applejack interrupted them with a clanging triangle and a beckoning “SOUP’S ON!” Pyrus pulled himself out of the cart and started walking to the house across the yard. His pace doubled as he caught scent of the aroma of fresh baked apple fritters, and he began to canter to the source of the smells. Big Mac followed leisurely, chuckling as Pyrus introduced the ground to his face via gravity.
*****

Now what in the world of Equestrtia could be on Scootaloo’s mind? It doesn’t take a genius to see that she’s nervous… but why is she starring at Pyrus like that? Wait a minute… Oh, not you too Sweetie Bell… Something’s wrong here. I’ve gotta figure out what. Did I miss something at that hospital visit those two made?

Applebloom’s mind was made up. She was gonna ask the girls what was going on. After Pyrus had left.
*****

Scootaloo’s mind was on something else. What’s he thinking about? He’s hungry, at the very least… Scootaloo laughed within her own mind. I wonder… what does he think of me? He’s told me some things I have a feeling he doesn’t share with everypony… also, why is it that every time I look at him my heart jumps like that!? It’s getting annoying… kinda… gahh so many questions! I’ll have to ask him later… if I can manage to find some time alone with him…

Scootaloo found herself staring on accident and continued eating. Food this good wasn’t something she usually got so she made the most of it.
*****

Sweetie Bell was carefully watching Pyrus from the corner of her eye. The adult ponies were all too busy talking about the harvest, so Sweetie easily blocked out their voices.

Wow. He’s really recovering fast. No black eye… almost no bruises… he’s even walking around normally on that leg. Is he really gonna be pulling an apple cart? I hope so… and he can do magic, and he said he’s been able too for a while now! I can’t do any yet… he must be strong! I wonder… if we put rocks in the apple buckets he’ll have to work harder… Sweetie Bell! That’s mean! I’m sure you’ll be able to see enough already! Her thoughts swirled around and she began daydreaming about this strong, handsome pony effortlessly pulling a full apple cart. She nibbled tastelessly on her food as the colt in her dream waved with a grin.
*****

Pyrus was thoroughly enjoying himself on the apple treats in front of him. They were delicious, and as he usually had to cook his own meals, the fact that they weren’t burnt, undercooked, or otherwise poorly prepared made them some of the best things he’d eaten in a while. The adult ponies talked over the feast. The sizeable meal was a harvest celebration, Big Mac had told him, and Pyrus liked the this kind of party. As they ate, Applejack grilled Big Mac with questions, questions about Pyrus. most were answered with a simple “Eeyup.” Pyrus admired this pony’s amazing ability to say so much with so few words. As the chewing slowed, and the pastries stopped getting passed, Applejack had just one more question, this one direct requiring less than a simple yes or no.

“Well, Big Macintosh,” Applejack said with finality, “what do you think of him? I know the girls can handle themselves, however… clumsily that handling will be. But what about Pyrus?”

Big Mac looked sideways at the orange foal next to him, and laughed a deep baritone. “Well, he’s a scrawny little fella, but he’s got spirit. Ah think he’ll do well.” Pyrus blushed a little.

“Well, it’s settled then! Everypony go and get a good night’s sleep, cause we’ve got some work to do tomorrow!” Applejack said slightly louder to gain the attention of everypny, breaking the girl’s respective trances.
Applebloom said her fair wells to her friends, and the three other young filed out the door and began the walk back to ponyville. Each had a hope for the next day. And what it may bring.

A storm of questions

“Lost in thought, strong in heart. Lost in mind, no track of time. Lost in words, you know their hurt. Lost in deed, and some may bleed.”

Scootaloo shuddered at the words spilling from Pyrus’s mouth. Ok, I can’t be the only one who finds that slightly creepy… but it’s also pretty cool. I mean, he’s poememing… is that a word? Poememing while he walks. Scootaloo was forced to halt as she found herself staring at Pyrus’s green eyes because he had stopped in front of her. With a light ~eep~ she silently cursed herself for getting lost in thought AGAIN before slowly letting out a breath. “What?” was all she could manage to say; her blood pounding forced her mouth shut after that.

“Well, I thought you should know… That’s rain. It’s raining. It’s going to be raining very hard soon.” Pyrus held out a hoof, and a raindrop conveniently fell onto it. “Fantastic…”

“O-oh… it’s… it’s raining now. We should… get to the barn?”

“Oh, yes, I thought that might be a good idea. I just wanted your input on it.” Pyrus’s tone of voice hit Scootaloo like a train.

*****

The barn was still across a field from them. Pyrus wasted no time, pulling with most of his strength, and plowed toward the barn. Scootaloo pulled on her own red wagon, which was stacked with two total apple buckets. The six on Pyrus’s cart shook violently as he started to trot. Scootaloo let out a breath and dropped her apples, they could go out and get them later.

She passed Pyrus, and threw open the sliding door to the barn as rain began to pound the thirsty ground. Pyrus then launched past her, nearly crashing the cart in the process. Unclipping it, he then walked over to the door. He stared with hatred at the two apple buckets still piled outside. Scootaloo stood next to him, frowning.

“Sorry…”

“No problem… as long as we go get them.” Pyrus’s eyebrows deepened.

Water smashed against the metal roof, gradually increasing in volume. The wall of falling moisture got thicker. Pyrus sighed.

Scootaloo suddenly had an idea. “Can’t you just… magic them back here? Lift them or something?” It sounded like a good idea to her.

“Your confidence in my power is flattering.” Pyrus replied solemnly. Scootaloo blinked at him. “Okay… here. I’ll show you.”

Pyrus Nightwrite dropped down to a sitting position, closed his eyes, and concentrated. A small orange glow popped into existence at the base of his horn, inching its way upward. Scootaloo cringed slightly as she felt a similar warmth in her chest. It spread and bloomed as the dim magic wave struggled to envelope his horn. Warmer, warmer, and stronger became her heart for reasons she decided not to explain to herself. Just as the dim wave of power was fractions of an inch away from covering his entire horn, it flickered and gave out. Her chest however did not, and she felt the mental dam keeping her emotion from flooding everything she was begin to buckle.

Pyrus exhaled harshly, and panted to catch his breath. “They’re too far…”

Scootaloo hardly felt the slap back to reality. Not trusting herself to speak, she bolted out to the buckets. She fell into a dreamlike trance. Pyrus cantered through the pouring downfall beside her. She bent down to pick up the one to her left, and scooped it onto her back. She watched herself as if she was watching another pony move.

*BOOM* a large flash, a resounding crash, and a deafining boom shocked her back into her own body. To her right, a bloodsmashing yell indicated the fact that Pyrus heard it too. Flinging apples behind him as the bucket haphazardly bounced on the orange colt’s back, he sprinted full out to the barn. Scootaloo ran back at a quick pace as well, the once very warm part of her now frozen on the surface, yet still brewing on the inside.

This time, Pyrus did crash. He flew headlong into the pile of apple bushels at full speed, and apples flung in several directions. Scootaloo managed to keep most of the apples in her bin as she screeched to a halt, using her small wings to slow herself. She set the apples down, and went to the barn door.

“Well, it doesn’t look like we’re going in right now… so I’m gonna close this door.” She pointed out to Pyrus. When no reply came, she pulled the large wooden door made for carts closed. She turned to give a grin to Pyrus, and noticed that he hadn’t moved, and was still buried beneath a pile of fruit. She jumped, buzzing her wings for speed, landing next to the bins.

“Omygosh? Are you okay?”

*****

“Yes? Well, no? Umm… just… give me a minute. I don’t know yet.” Pyrus stuttered out.

“Here, let me help you out of there.” Scootaloo started shuffling through the apples.

“No! Umm… no. I’ll come out when… when I need to.”

A loud burst of thunder rattled the rafters of the barn. Pyrus let out a small whine and shivered, causing several apples to shake off of the pile he hid under. He closed his eyes tightly. He heard Scootaloo’s voice through the produce.

“Oh. Hey, it’s just thunder, it can’t hurt you…”

Pyrus sighed and slowly backed his way out of the mess he’d made, and realized that it WAS a mess. Apples were scattered in every direction, and there were several barrels tipped over. He slowly and shakily made his way into a standing position, gaining his balance only to have it thrown off by a surprising hug from Scootaloo. Nearly falling over and not knowing how to respond, he let out a confused and shaky grunt.

“It’s okay,” Scootaloo said softly. “I know what it’s like to be scared…”

Pyrus sighed and awkwardly stood with the orange filly hugging him. “Scootaloo? Why… well, obviously… umm…?”

“Oh!” Scootaloo quickly snapped off of Pyrus and stood a few feet away from him. “…Sorry. I…”

Why? Why is that so adorable? I don’t understand… Pyrus felt the tugging at his chest that he had felt every time he had seen her that day. Scootaloo stood trying and failing to start a sentence to explain herself. Pyrus, meanwhile, stood trying and failing to form a complete answer in his head.

Thunder crashed again, louder this time.

*****

Wow, Scootaloo, wow. You’re really hugging him again… he’s right there. Touching you. He’s right there… Hugging back?

Scootaloo slowly moved her head to face the other pony she clung to. He slowly did the same. The pair’s eyes met for a brief instant, and Scootaloo saw the same confusion she felt in herself staring back at her. Then she looked away, at the ground.

“I… I guess I’m a little afraid too…” Scootaloo admitted, without moving.

“I’m not afraid…” Pyrus replied. “Well… maybe a little… Maybe a lot…”

“Pyrus?” WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT?

“Yeah Scootaloo?”

“Umm…” Was all she could manage to say. A large lump sat in her throat and prevented her from speaking. She pulled herself off of Pyrus and sat in awkward silence, while the storm winds rushed through the holes and openings between the lumber of the door.

*****

“I think… I think I’ve figured it out.”

“What do you mean?”

Pyrus looked tward the barn door, and back at Scootaloo. Spoke to soon, Pyrus. You have no idea what you mean. “I… are you cold?”

Scootaloo was shivering. A lot. She was soaking wet from the rain, and the autumn air seemed to be taking it’s toll.

“No, I’m used to being cold.” Scootaloo said confusedly, but her chattering teeth gave her away.

“That… That doesn’t mean you should BE cold. Here, follow me.” Pyrus turned and retreated away from the cold winds of the storm into a stall, which was sheltered from the wind. Once there, he turned back and watched Scootaloo shiver her way in. “This any better?”

Pyrus waited for her reply, knowing that she was going to say no. He knew what he had to do, but for some reason didn’t want to.

“Why aren’t you cold, Pyrus? I mean, you’re all wet and it’s cold in here, so shouldn’t you be cold to?” Scootaloo chattered through clenched teeth.

“No. One more thing about my fire… accident when I was young made me very difficult to cool. It’s nice in the winter… not so great in the summer.” Pyrus awkwardly lay down in the corner of the room, and gave a deep breath. “Scootaloo, I know this is gonna sound weird, but it’s the best I can offer for you.”

I REALLY don’t know about this… I don’t want to offend her…

Scootaloo looked at him as quizzically as a shivering filly can really look. “Go on…”

“I… Well… It would seem that… the best way for me to warm you… I guess… body warmth? N-not like I mean I want to… uhh…” Pyrus trailed off at the grin that spread along Scootaloo’s face. “I see I haven’t offended you, so… uh…”

Scootaloo giggled a little, and stepped over to Pyrus, laying down and leaning into him. A new feeling of warmth spread through Pyrus. Warmer, warmer, for reasons he decided not to explain to himself. “Umm… this means yes then?”

Scootaloo looked over her shoulder at the orange unicorn, smiling. “You ARE warm, and it IS cold… there’s no reason to make it awkward, right?”

“Right. I think…”

“Good.” Scootaloo fell silent for a moment, then continued. “But seriously, don’t tell the girls okay? We’ll never hear the end of it. Not with Sweetie Bell around anyway…”

Pyrus laughed at that, glad of a joke to lighten the mood. “We probably wouldn’t... Hey Scootaloo?”

“Yeah?”

*BOOM* Thunder cut Pyrus off before he could say anything. Despite the fact that they were inside and safe, Pyrus still felt the chilly grip of fear latch onto lungs. This is worse than last time… I really need to stop being such a scardy-pony whenever a storm rolls around.

Pyrus felt a grip outside of himself as well, one that comes from hooves of one pony giving another a hug. He opened his eyes to find that Scootaloo was the other pony (Which he though should have been obvious anyway) and that she had her forelegs wrapped around him. He started to protest a little, but Scootaloo silenced him. “Come on, Pyrus. I’m cold, you’re scared. We have perfectly good reasons to be doing this.”

Pyrus didn’t know why he was so hesitant, but he felt something odd whenever he hugged her like that, and until he knew what it was he didn’t want to encourage it. But, he decided, She has a point. I guess I can’t really avoid it. Pyrus thought not unhappily, then sighed deeply, and hugged Scootaloo back. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” Scootaloo sighed as well.

A long moment passed where neither pony said anything, both just held each other and tried their best not to make eye contact. Some more, distant thunder passed by. A small bird took shelter in the nest she made in a nook of the beams overhead, which Pyrus found to be a good thing to watch so he didn’t have to look at the filly cozied into his body. Slowly the moments oozed by, and Scootaloo started shivering less and less, and she got closer and closer to Pyrus, until she was fully resting her head in his shoulder. Pyrus did not find this unpleasant, because it made him feel safer somehow.

When Scootaloo finally did speak, it was with a yawn. “It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?” Pyrus nodded his head, which Scootaloo didn’t see but rather felt. “A very long day…”

“Yeah…” Pyrus agreed, “I wonder if this storm is gonna let up.”

“If I know Everfree storms… not likely anytime soon.” Scootaloo shifted again. “You know… you’re a good friend Pyrus.” It became obvious to Pyrus that she was about to fall asleep, and he somehow was okay with it. “Maybe even something more…”

Soft breathing was all that came after. She’s asleep. She’s asleep on me. Well, at least she’s warm. Pyrus shook his head to himself, and leaned his head against the wooden beam that separated him and the metal wall. He closed his eyes and thought, more to pass the time than anything else.

She’s the first really good friend I’ve had in a very long time… Scootaloo. There are things I will never understand about fillies, that’s for sure. I mean, really, what was with Applebloom today anyway? Was Scootaloo really just sitting there, staring at me…?

I wonder… I wonder, what does she think of me? I mean, I know I’ve asked myself this question probably a hundred times with as many ponies, but this time… it’s different. As if I need to know what she thinks of me before I can figure out myself how I think of her. She’s the nicest, …cutest?… and most energetic pony I’ve met. We were instant friends, weren’t we? Even in books that rarely happens…

Ever since she crashed into the tree, it just seems I’ve felt… different. Warmer. I think… I think I have it figured out.

‘The love for a friend, intensified… a care, a force that pulls forever against you until you feel like you can’t live without helping them in a time of need…’ Right Luna? This is what you meant, isn’t it? Yes… “I know now…”

Pyrus looked at the sleeping filly, and he saw her in an entirely new light. “You like me, don’t you Scootaloo?” Pyrus whispered with certainty, everything becoming clearer to him. “Like, really like me, more than just friends… It’s okay, you don’t have to be embarrassed, I know… it’s obvious really. You’re not clumsy as far as I can tell, at least not until I’m nearby. You’re different since we met too, aren’t’ you? Warmer, right?” Pyrus closed his eyes, again.

“It’s okay, Scootaloo, I’m sure it’s just as obvious about me. I like you too.”

Author's Note

It's been a while hasn't it?
I've forgotten how fun writing for these two can be.
Stick around, more of this to come. (Hopefully.)

Cancellation

Everything you need to know is here.
Sorry in advance, but it had to be done.
http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/247465/life-update-crazy-dreams-apologies-and-moving-forward

Cutie Mark Crusaders Paramedics

AN: well, i have some serious explaining to do, don't i? ok, here it goes. for the entire summer, I've been working at a boy scout camp. this means I have had almost no wifi at all, what little I did have was laundromat wifi that 25 other people were using.. I also lost motivation until a certain friend of mine named lightzero1111 came along, read what I have, and basically kicked my flank into gear. so, I have a chapter for you guys. the wait is finally over. it's here. done. more to come, I am willing to bet my *insert item of value here* on it. now, i'll shut up so you can read the actual chapter.

“Pyrus?”

Words.

“Pyrus!?”

More words. Different voice.

“PYRUS!”

Really loud words. Another voice.

Go away! I’m sleeping!

“PYRUS!” Scootaloo’s lungs burned, and her throat burned with volume as she screamed the name of her newest friend. “WAKE UP!”

“Okay, Scootaloo, okay! We get it, he ain’t gettin’ up,” Applebloom shook her not-so-new friend, ignoring the globs of tree sap hanging from Scootaloo’s fur. “He’s out cold. Which may be a problem.”

“MAY be a problem!? Are you BLIND!?”

Scootaloo continued freaking out at Pyrus, tugging his mane, pushing his side, and doing the general motions that usually cause a pony to wake up. Applebloom, on the other hoof, was occupied with telling Scootaloo that it’s no use to try, and that she should probably just give up. Sweetie bell’s eyes darted between the orange lump at the base of the tree, the loud, orange, sap-covered mess shaking it, and cleared her mind of any thoughts but what she had learned in Rarity’s almost painful emergency lectures. I know. What must. Be done! she thought.

“ALRIGHT” Sweetie’s musical voice was more than capable of overriding the two other fillies, who immediately fell silent. “He just fell through a tree, so he probably bashed around through the branches. Now, he likely has some fractures from the tumble, but he’s obviously unconscious, which was likely caused by massive impact to the scull. We need to move him, exceedingly carefully, to the hospital.”

Scootaloo blinked a few times, trying her hardest to understand what she just heard. After a few seconds, she gave up and went with the part she could understand.

“Well, then, stop being a dictionary and help me move him!”

“Wait, before we do, can we pleeeeeeeease do it?”

“We don’t have time, Sweetie Bell!”

“PLEEEEEEEEASE?”

“fine” the orange pony gave in, and prepared for the cheer.

“CUTIE MARC CRUSADERS PARAMEDICS! YAY!”

lifting.

Floating.

I wonder where I’m going…

“Please don’t drop him.”

“I AIN’T droppin’ him!”

“GIRLS! Stop talking and lift. The sooner we get him there, the better it is for him.”

There was a long pause, as the three fillies struggled to lift the larger colt. Pyrus had a thin body, but he seemed surprisingly heavy.

After a while, Applebloom noticed an oddly familiar feeling…

“DARNIT, I’m getting tree sap in my mane!”

“UUUUGH!” came the double reply from the two fillies.

it’s too loud.

Too many voices.

Too bright.

And still floating…

As the hospital came into view, the Crusaders’ lungs let out a collective sigh, relieved. Scootaloo however, was far from
finished with her tense state. Oh PLEASE be okay… oh please oh please oh please! miserable, she plodded on,
determined to make it all better.

The dull thud of the door reached the ears of Nurse Redheart, who had been doing a check up on a patient for Doc.
Rushing for the door, she did her guessing game that she did on a regular basis: Guess the Guest. I wonder who it will be
this time… probably some poor teen pegasus crash victim or another young unicorn overdoing it on the magic. Poor dears,
they always want to grow up faster…

When she opened the door, the sight that greeted Redheart made her jaw dropped a little before she could quite understand what exactly she was looking at. She had treated many patients across the tabs, from Pinkie Party Fever to broken bones to the occasional rare diseases such as Cutie Pox, and so it didn’t take long for her to recover.

“Ah, girls. What can I do for you today?”

“Miss Redheart, we have a little problem with our friend. Can ya fix him, please?” came Applebloom’s reply.

“Well, come in and I’ll see what I can do.”

As the trio passed by, the nurse couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t anticipate the CMC again…

moving. Less bright now.

Now moving down.

Soft. Warm. Comfortable...

Scootaloo watched helplessly as they put him in the white bed. She watched helplessly as they scrubbed the sap off his fur. She watched helplessly as her friend was poked with a needle for an IV. She watched helplessly as the nurse said there wasn’t anything they could do but wait. And as she watched helpless she decided one thing, and it was one of the clearest decisions she had ever made.

I HATE being helpless!

“H-hey Scootaloo? Sorry, but Rarity wanted me home before dark. I-I’d wait with you but… I have to go.”

“It’s okay, Sweetie Bell. None of us would be here if it weren’t for me anyway…”

“Hey. Don’t beat yourself up. You couldn’t have stopped that rope from breaking, or that tree from hitting him, wherever it hit
him. It isn’t your fault…”

“Yes it is!” Scootaloo couldn’t control her emotion any longer. “If I hadn’t insisted that he try zip-lining, if I hadn’t dragged him up there, we wouldn’t BE here!” Gradually, her voice increased in volume and pitch, and her stance got higher in time with her voice. “If I hadn’t DRAGGED him off of that tree with me, HE WOULDN’T BE KNOCKED OUT IN THE HOSPITAL! He’s here BECAUSE OF ME!” Tears streaming down her face, Scootaloo fell hard onto a bench in the waiting room. All her energy spent, she could only sob into her hooves, and whisper one more phrase: “Because of me.”

Shocked by her friend’s sudden, violent, emotional breakdown, Sweetie Bell stood awkwardly beside her weeping friend. Such emotions were uncommon among Scootaloo, and she wasn’t prepared to deal with them. The only thing she could do was give her a quick hug, say “I’m sorry,” and leave her there, and as she walked out of the hospital, she found herself asking what else she could have done.

As she ran out of tears, Scootaloo looked inward. She closed her eyes, and felt the pain swirling inside her. The pain of guilt, sadness, and loss, rage at herself for letting this happen, and an oppressive feeling of helplessness. These feelings were completely new to her. She had never felt this much for anypony before, not even when her parents died. Then there was just the sadness and loss, but here was so much more. Guilt ravaged her gut, making her physically ill. She sat still for hours, defeat whittling away at her heart until she fell nearly completely numb.

I haven’t even known him for 3 days yet… I just asked him to come with us after school. And now look, I’ve destroyed him. I’m… I’m a monster…

She hardly registered Applebloom’s voice when she declared that she had to get home too. Only when the nurse finally walked out of the examination room with Pyrus did she stir from her meditation. The nurse was pushing a rolling bed, presumably to another room.

“Nurse, where are you taking him?” she managed to croak out.

“I’m only taking him to a recovery room. Only time can help him now, we’ve done what we can.”

“C-can I come?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Thanks…”

She followed the nurse into a small white room, trembling still with emotion. She slowly trudged across said room to the small cushion that was obviously meant for guests. Watching intently at the nurse transporting Pyrus onto the other bed only brought even more tears to her eyes, surprising her; she was convinced she had run out of them hours ago.

Looking away from the nurse, she surveyed the room. Some computer monitors beeped steadily, mesmerizingly, splitting through the silence like a metronome of paralyzing emptiness. Confusing-looking data traced a path across the bottoms of the computer monitors, and she closed her eyes hard to prevent herself from trying to decipher their meaning, as she didn’t want to face the terrifying truth about exactly how much damage she had done. Moving on, she glanced out the glass behind her, and discovered that night had fallen. Stars littered the expanse of sky that she could see, and finally her eyelids started to droop and her trembling changed from emotion to fatigue.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her, and she drooped even more. By this point the nurse had left her alone. Taking one last look at her injured friend, she gave in to the exhaustion of the day. All of her guilt, sadness, and emptiness blended together to form a single, simple, guilty phrase, echoing through her mind. All my fault, All my fault, All my fault.

Back (Important, Not the story)

Scooter Tracks is back for now. Because why not, right?
Hopefully ponies decide they still have time for the story, because it's no fun to write when nopony reads...
Anyway, after some serious thinking and revisions (yes, the story was going to take some turns, i actually have most of the plot written out. and if anyone makes that into a clop joke...) I have decided to remove the hiatus (or whatever you do to hiatuses to make them go away) and continue the story. please enjoy.
~Pyrus

*THIS CHAPTER TO BE DELETED ON NOVEMBER 3RD*