Scootapocalypse

Chapter Three

It was quiet and dark. Scootaloo plodded along, silent and solemn. Her forelock hung over her eyes, matted and greasy. Her ribs were starting to show through her skin. Her blanket flapped against her side. She had tied it up into a make-shift bag, to carry her book and the remains of her photo. She had no idea where she was headed. It had never occurred to her to bring a map. Wherever she was, it was humid and uncomfortable. She hasn’t seen another pony since the unicorn’s encounter. That was about a week ago. The heat was relentless, never changing. Smooze clung around her hooves, making the slightest movement a chore.

There was a blotch in the distance. Scootaloo disregarded it at first. Most blotches turned out to just be smooze covered trees or buildings - But this one seemed to be moving. Not by much, but enough to catch her attention. She turned and walked towards it slowly. As it got nearer, Scootaloo realized - It was a pony. As she got closer, she could work out more details. It was a mare, light pink in colour, with a darker pink mane and tail drooped out over her. She was sitting on her back legs, staring off into the distance.

Scootaloo turned her attention to the pony’s cutie mark. Three balloons. She froze. She knew this pony. She was only a few metres away from her now.

“Pinkie?” Scootaloo spoke slowly. She didn’t move. Scootaloo moved closer, until she was almost next to her.

“Pinkie?”

The mare was mumbling quietly to herself.

“They’re all okay... I’m okay... Everypony’s okay... I’ll find them... It’ll be fine...”

Scootaloo put a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. She shot round, staring at Scootaloo with blood-shot eyes. Her face was stained with tears.

“Scootaloo?”

She grabbed Scootaloo in a hug. Scootaloo felt something wet on her shoulder. Pinkie was sobbing quietly to herself. She held on for ages, until Scootaloo started to squirm slightly.

“Oh... Sorry.” Pinkie freed Scootaloo from her embrace. Scootaloo smiled awkwardly. Pinkie was as disheveled as she was. Her mane was tatty and flat against her head, her coat was dull and dusty. Silence reigned once more, until Scootaloo decided to speak up again.

“Umm... Where is everypony? You went to Canterlot with Rainbow and everyone...” She trailed off.

Pinkie breathed in slowly.

“We all went up to Canterlot together, and Princess Celestia told us that there was a threat made, and that we had to stay in Canterlot until it turned up, because the capital city is usually the main place for bad things to happen. So we all went out to go look around, and then the wave came... Rarity got stuck in it, and we all went back to help her, and Twilight got stuck too, and she told us to go ahead and they’d catch up... So we all did...”

Fresh tears welled up around Pinkie’s eyes. She scrubbed them away with a hoof.

“So we all got away, and Rainbow and Fluttershy carried me and Applejack up into the sky so we wouldn’t be got by the wave, and then we landed on the top of the mountain that the castle is on... We waited and waited for Twilight and Rarity, but they didn’t come back. Fluttershy wanted to go back to look for them, but Applejack kept saying no because it wasn’t safe... We stayed there for the rest of the day, and then we left... We came here and made a camp, but Fluttershy left to go look for Twilight and Rarity... Applejack said she’d be fine and she’d come back and find us, but she didn’t...”

Tears were flowing freely now. Scootaloo slung her blanket bag to the floor, and untied it. She picked up a corner with one hoof and wiped Pinkie’s face. She couldn’t stop herself, and Scootaloo could see why.

“So we made a group, and we helped other ponies who were lost. Applejack was the leader, and Rainbow was the look-out, and Applejack said I had a really important job - To keep up morale... So I had to make everypony smile! Which was really hard... I couldn’t throw parties, and nopony wanted to talk... Rainbow kept asking if she could go and look for Fluttershy, and Applejack kept telling her no... They started arguing all the time... So I thought if I found Fluttershy, maybe they’d stop arguing... So I went back to Canterlot... But I couldn’t find Canterlot.”

“So that’s why you’re here?” Scootaloo asked quietly. Pinkie nodded and rubbed at her eyes again.

“But now,” Pinkie continued, a slight smile forming on her face through the tears, “It’s okay, because you’re here!” she squeaked. Scootaloo smiled back. Pinkie prodded Scootaloo’s bag gingerly.

“Oooh! What’s in there?” She asked, head cocked to one side.

“Oh.. Um...” Scootaloo took the bag off and dumped it on the floor. Pinkie peered inside.

“Natural Disasters?”

Scootaloo nodded. “I um... ‘borrowed’ it from Twilight...”

Pinkie’s ears pricked at the mention of her friends name. “Twilight’s okay?” She grinned, skipping slightly.

Scootaloo didn’t know what to say now. “Um... I think so...”

“Yay! Did she say where she was going?” Pinkie asked.

“Oh... No, she didn’t. I think she was in a hurry...” Scootaloo had always been a bad liar. She wasn’t sure if Pinkie was just really gullible or if she was deluding herself.

“Okay then.” The pink mare said, still smiling. She picked up the photograph. “Oh, it’s you and Dashie!”

Scootaloo wasn’t sure if she should ask or not.

“Have you seen Rainbow?”

“Not since yesterday...” Pinkie replied, suddenly solemn again.

“Well, that’s okay. I’m sure I’ll find her.” Scootaloo said, forcing a smile.

The two mares sat in silence for a while. Scootaloo didn’t want to force the conversation. She packed her things back up.

The sun started to dip below the horizon. Pinkie stood up.

“What’s up?” Scootaloo asked.

“I need to go back to camp!” Pinkie said. She gasped suddenly. “You can come with me! Why didn’t I think of this earlier?! Come on!” She bolted off. Scootaloo scrabbled to her feet and galloped after her.

“What’s this camp?” Scootaloo wheezed. Lack of food and the sudden exercise didn’t mix well.

“Well,” Pinkie replied, full of energy as always, “There’s about seven of us, and we’re all camped out at our ‘base’. We have some food still I think, and everyone’s super nice once you get to know them!” Pinkie grinned. “It’s about ten minutes away!”

Ten minutes? Scootaloo thought to herself. I’ll be dead by then at this rate...

Scootaloo slowed down slightly to save energy. Hopefully she would have a meal soon.