They come at night... Mostly

Can we
both have
another chance?

~Chances - Vivienne Luong~

~Twilight~

It broke my heart to see what I saw. The look of utter defeat on Rainbow's face as she held the lifeless body of her most treasured friend. We were all special to Rainbow in some way, But Scootaloo was extra special. I still can't decide whether it was Really Rainbow whom had adopted Scootaloo as a sister figure, or the other way around. When you think about it, it was always Scootaloo who wanted Rainbow Dash to be her sister. It wasn't until quite recently that Rainbow accepted the way she felt. Now there was nothing. The goodbyes had been said in the letter that had floated to me in the wake of their running to the attic. Though Rainbow never got the chance to say her goodbyes. Nor would she have needed to had we not decided to fill our bellies first. That thought alone made me feel sick.

I felt like a monster. We all knew that she could have been up here, however unlikely. But instead of checking to be certain, we stuffed our faces. Now the price for our gluttony had been paid in the form of a life, just having slipped from our fingers. Rainbow's screams hurt our ears, but I don't believe we minded, given what she was screaming over. Personally, I wouldn't have even minded if a Shade had heard us. Trixie shared in our pain. Though she'd never really developed any sort of bond with Scootaloo, good or bad, the sight alone was enough to bring tears to her eyes. She couldn't stand the sight and turned away. I wanted to do the same, but my eyes were glued to the expressionless face that was Jaeger's. I wondered what he was thinking; was he even thinking at all? Had something about this scene taken him back to a time in his own life? If so, what must his life have been like?

"Twilight!" Rainbow's voice snapped me out of my reverie. "Is there anything we can do? Can we still save her?!" the desperation in her voice forced my mind into overdrive. I tried my best to recall every medical book I'd read to the syllable. There was a solution. Given how she'd hung herself moments after we'd entered the house, there was still time.

Before I could respond, Jaeger cut in. "I can save her." he replied, his expression turning grim. All faces looked to him. Trixie's with a new-found admiration, Rainbow's with a shimmer of hope, Spike's with wonder, and mine with reservation. I could tell by the look on his face that this would come at a cost.

"Yet you don't look too pleased with the method you're contemplating." I addressed to him. He turned to look at me and nodded.

"It's because I'm not. There's a limit to how much Red Magic I can use at a time. It works like a rechargeable battery." he explained. I nodded, understanding where he was going with this.

"Saving Scootaloo will put you out of business, potentially endangering all of us until you're recharged." I said. He nodded to me again.

"We'll be defenceless against Shades for a week. I'll be essentially useless to you until then. That said, do we still want me to save Scootaloo?" he asked.

Rainbow looked as if she wanted to protest against even contemplating not saving her, but something in her brain must have told her that what Jaeger said was worth thinking about. And it was right. With Shades being the most dangerous thing in Equestria, possibly the world, abandoning our one defence against them to save one filly, even if that filly was Scootaloo, it seemed almost reckless.

"I say yes." Trixie replied, surprising me. It never occurred to me that Trixie of all ponies would abandon self preservation for the sake of a filly she barely knew. Perhaps there was more to her than we first thought.

"Scootaloo's one of us. If one of us dies, then we should all die. Did that sound right?" Spike asked, looking uncertainly at me.

"To paraphrase Spike; she is one of us. All for one and one for all. Save her, Jaeger. Please." I said. Rainbow looked to Jaeger with a thankful smile on her face. She was going to get her little sister-figure back.

~Jaeger~

With the decision made about what to do, there was nothing left but to psych myself up and just do it. So, taking a deep breath, I let it all out. "Man, this is gonna suck!" I groaned, kneeling down before the dying filly. I knocked Rainbow Dash away from her so only I was making physical contact with Scootaloo. I cracked my neck both ways before taking in another breath and letting it out in a slower fashion. I placed one hand over her forehead and the other over her chest.

There was a special trigger required to activate the spell, and I had it. I reached down into the deepest recesses of my mind and pulled out the most painful memory I had.

((Memory))

"JAEGER!"

I felt the energy surge through my very being as that sliver of memory burst forth to the forefront of my mind. Followed by the thought that invaded my every waking moment. 'I won't let anypony I care about die like that again!'

~Twilight~

His power was almost frightening. The preparations he'd performed, taking deep breaths before activating the spell suggested it would hurt. It looked like it did. Jaeger's eyes glowed crimson for an instant before his entire body was engulfed in red crackling magic. It was like scarlet lightning surging through his body. It wasn't until it went into Scootaloo that I noticed something truly amazing.

Jaeger had converted his magic into a defibrilator. Scootaloo's body had begun to quiver as though hit with some thousand volts. At the same time, over the electrical sound, I could hear her bones popping, as though relieving themselves of all stress. Her muscles rippled as they shifted slightly, coming to relax as they were before.

All the while, the lightning seemed to do different things, all therapeutic as it left Jaeger's body and entered Scootaloo. It was like a magical regeneration spell. And the way it moved astounded me. The lightning was all connected, and as it entered Scootaloo's body, I saw parts of Jaeger's body no longer had the lightning arcing around him any more. First, the lightning freed his hooves, then his legs, then all of his lower body, followed by his torso, head and finally his arms.

As the last of the magic left his hands, Jaeger fell to the ground in a heap beside Scootaloo, completely unconscious. Both looked so relaxed and peaceful. There was a pregnant pause in the air as neither Jaeger nor Scootaloo moved. We began to wonder if something had gone wrong. What was the success rate of the spell Jaeger had used? There was still time to use CPR.

I decided to go for it. CPR was Scootaloo's best bet now. But just as I began to move, Scootaloo sucked in air through a loud and deep gasp. We all jumped in surprise at her sudden rise. The filly sat up and looked at her hands. She then felt around her neck for the rope, first looking up, then around. It was then that she laid eyes upon Rainbow Dash.

The sight before me brought tears of joy to my eyes. No words were exchanged between Scootaloo or Rainbow. They just stared at each other for a good long moment before scurrying to close the distance between them in a great big hug. Tears and light sobs were all that escaped them as they clung to each other for dear life. It was after that moment that Spike and Winona decided to turn it into a group hug, one which was welcomed by both parties.

My mind wandered over to Jaeger, as did my body. I looked at the Stallion before me and knelt down to lift him up. He was heavy. I settled for resting his head on my thigh.

"Thank you Jaeger. You're a wonderful pony. I'm so glad to have met you." I whispered to him. All eyes turned to us. There was no uncertainty in Scootaloo's eyes. She approached Jaeger as if she knew what he had done for her. She then bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Jaeger. You've given me a second chance with Rainbow Dash. I owe you everything." she said. I smiled at the filly's words and looked down to the Unicorn for whom my fondness continued to grow. 'I wonder what you'd say to that?' I thought as I watched him sleep.

~Jaeger~

I awoke to pain. My head felt like it had been through a vice, my back felt like it had fallen just short of a workplace-related injury. My eyes burned like there was smoke in them and my throat was sore. I wanted to sleep more, but the pain in my head and back prevented that from happening. I couldn't help but groan.

My outburst of pain was met by a familiar violet mare who smiled at me in a gentle manner. Something I'd long forgotten. It was nice to see after all this time. "I'd make a Sleeping Beauty reference, but there's nothing beautiful about the way you sleep." she teased. I gave her a light chuckle for her efforts at humour. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Like a piano fell on me." I replied.

"Been there." she said, making me pause and think about what she meant by that.

I laid back to relax my body, only to find a pillow under my head. I took a moment to look around. I was in a bed. Rainbow Dash's bed no doubt. "What about the others?" I asked.

Twilight smiled sweetly at me. "They're all fine. That spell you used on Scootaloo worked. She's as fit as a fiddle. I think she wants to thank you in person when you're well enough to see her. Rainbow Dash hasn't let her out of her sights though. That may get old fast. Spike's cooking up what he took with him from Applejack's, and Trixie's trying her best to form a more solid friendship with everypony. She wasn't exactly the most popular pony before the Incursion, so she's trying to make a fresh start."

"And what about you?" I asked.

"Me?"

I placed a hand over hers. "You're still new to all of this. How are you coping?" I asked. I saw a flash of realisation hit her, but I couldn't tell what it was. She tried to cover it up.

"Well, I'm coping. It isn't always easy. I've had to kill ponies I knew from this town... well, their bodies anyway. I've found one of my five friends, who's lost a bit of her sanity, but seems to have retained most of it. To top it all off, a filly I've grown fond of over the years tried to hang herself and succeeded for the most part. I spend every waking moment wondering whether or not my other friends are still alive, and if they're alright. Not to mention my family. Then there's the Princesses. It's all so much that my mind can't take it and I find myself becoming a mixture of confused and pissed off! I then ask myself; are they alive, are they dead, are they healthy, are they hurt, are they fighting for their lives, are they safe somewhere, are they-."

I grabbed Twilight by the arm and shook her slightly. She stopped her rant with a crazy look in her eyes. "Twilight. Take a deep breath." I instructed. She did as I said and sucked in air. "Pretend that all your worries are in that breath and just let it out." I concluded. She complied and let the air in her lungs out. She smiled at me again.

"And then there's you." she began again, this time with a gentler tone to her voice. "The mysterious stallion who held all the answers, helped me find that one friend and searched throughout Ponyville with me. You appeared in my Library like a hero out of a story. I'd write you off as a figment of my imagination if the others didn't see you too. You're like the Unicorn of my dreams. Smart, sensitive, strong willed and kind. On the surface you display a hardness that can only be cracked by those you trust. And once you decide to help somepony, you'll put everything you have into it, literally. You're my dream stallion." she said.

I could see the tiredness in her eyes. The past few days had been stressful on all of us. "You're too kind, Twilight. But I'm far from perfect." I said. Twilight said nothing. She just stood up and walked around to the other side of the bed. She then sat down and angled herself to lay down beside me.

"You're still a good guy." she said, snuggling into me. I turned around and placed one arm under her and the other over her. I pulled her closer to me, receiving no protest from the mare. She angled herself so that her horn wasn't sticking into me at all. It was only a matter of seconds before she was asleep.

'Is this what friends do when the world isn't safe enough to sleep alone in?' I thought to myself as I snuggled with the mare. 'She really is beautiful. The incursion really did nothing to affect that.'