"Tonight's the night. I'll make it work, I know I will." Scootaloo muttered to herself as she climbed into bed. As usual the sound of one of her brothers, or possibly her dad she'd never bothered to check, snoring a few rooms down the hall was a perpetual annoyance, but as always she pushed the sound from her mind.
As she tried to get to sleep her gaze momentarily drifted to the books on her nightstand. Everything the Ponyville library had on dream walking, she'd borrowed them from twilight almost two years prior. It was a small miracle Twilight didn't believe in late fees... I should probably return those at some point.
As she finally managed to drift off the dreams started. As always her mental images of her two closest friends were there with her, marks and all. Scootaloo couldn't remember the last time she hadn't seen them in her dreams, they were just always there. Repeating the steps she learned from the book, everything began to shift around her, the dream dissolving into a white void dotted with infinite little black stars. Moving towards one she came upon a blob of color and light about the same size as herself, images of wind and cloud whipping by at breakneck speeds while a blurred form in a blue and gold jumpsuit shot around playing across is's surface. There was no mistaking that mane though.
Scootaloo grinned as she moved on, rather than step into Rainbow's dream. I did it, I'm really here. she thought to herself as she wandered aimlessly, before something caught her attention. In one of the dreams was a creature, unlike anything in equestria. A biped with scarred flesh tinted the purple of a bad bruise, a black mane and matching dress, and long red claws. But her bizarre appearance wasn't what made scootaloo stop. Whatever she was, she was clearly in pain. Sitting on the ground curled into a ball crying.
Luna helped me, I guess it's my turn. she thought to herself as she touched the dream and was pulled inside. Once inside things seemed very different. The landscape, a mangled jumble of twisted black spires vaguely in the shape of bookcases, stretched on forever seemingly curving in impossible ways to deny the horizon. All around lay chunks of strange black glop and red smears that Scootaloo would rather not think about. Among the mes lay dozens upon dozens of ghostly forms, all fading in and out as if they weren't really there, all identical to the crying girl, and all mutilated in some way, whether it be caught on the random spiked surfaces, jammed into a massive blade or just laying on the ground in pieces.
It's just a dream... Scootaloo had to remind herself, forcing her gaze away from that towards the girl.
Landing next to her, and nudging her gently with a forehoof to get her attention, Scootaloo was cut off before she could offer any greeting. Interrupted by the girl rounding on her and sinking a claw into her chest up to her wrist.
Oh Celestia she just stabbed- wait... I don't feel any different... right. Dream. Not real.
"Kinda jumpy. I just-GYAK!" Scootaloo commented jokingly, Pushing the claw away, and hoping a little humor might make the stranger less aggressive. Instead all it accomplished was the strange girl kicking her back and lunging at her trying once more to run her through with her claws.
"Go away!" She screeched, eyes shut and striking blindly. Repeatedly slamming into Scootaloo, and howling in rage with every swing. "It was supposed to be over!"
After a minute or two, she slowed enough for Scoot to catch one of her claws with a forehoof, stopping her attack. That got her attention, and finally got her to open her eyes and actually look at who she was trying to stab. Apparently a bright orange pony without a scratch on her was not what she had expected to see.
"I just wanted to see if you were alright." Scootaloo repeated, actually managing to finish the sentence this time. Trying to put on a friendly smile as she released the girls claw. In an instant the creature as wrapped around her in a hug, crying again. Scoot had to try her hardest not to grimace as she halfheartedly returned the hug. Ugh... I hate this mushy stuff... you get away with it just this once.
"Why won't it go away?" She eventually heard the girl whisper. "I got rid of the book, I changed back, why am I still here?"
Guessing from that that a change of scenery might help, Scootaloo wriggled her wing out from under the girl's grip and took to the air, her surprise passenger letting out a startled 'eep' as they got up to speed. Somehow, the world around them seemed to be bending to try and keep them in, not wanting to let them go. Scootaloo could still see it though, the spot where she had entered, and the way back to her own dream. As they passed through, that mangled world disappeared, replaced by clear sunny skies and rolling green hills. A familiar dream about flying she had had many times. If only my wings worked this well outside the dreams.
Letting go just above the ground, then landing herself a little ways away. She turned to her guest only to see a marked change. Her skin was a soft tan now, no longer scarred, and the claws were gone. In their place she had hands with little red painted miniature claws.
"Better?" Scoot asked. though her guest didn't answer, she just nodded smiling. Focused as much on herself as on their surroundings. "I'm Scootaloo by the way."
"Raven."
The rest of the dream was peaceful and calm, something that by the looks of it, Raven needed. Waking up a few hours later, Scootaloo couldn't help but grin. She had finally done it. There was no way she had just imagined Raven, that was real she was sure of it. Before she could think further on her accomplishment though, a faint pulse of red light at the edge of her peripheral vision drew her attention behind her. There on her flank was a shape vaguely like a blood red 'Y'.
"Why does my mark look like Raven's claws?" She wondered aloud, equal parts elated that she had finally gotten it, and baffled at it's odd design. Maybe it had something to do with the dream she had rescued raven from? Still she couldn't wait to show the girls.
Author's Note
The next chapter of SH is coming along okay, but i wanted to take a break from that for an hour or two, so i made this. Don't expect a consistent update schedule, it's more of a "whenever i'm bored" project.
Notes on unfinished chapters
Author's Note
I've more or less gotten bored with this fandom, and coming back here to update fics when I would normally have just moved on to another series by now is becoming a chore...
i don't want to do this anymore.
If someone else wants to finish these fics go ahead, I've left a truncated and unfinished version of everything that's left to happen below.
CH2:
Many of the citizens of ponyville had desperately hoped that the last of the crusaders getting their marks might finally put an end to the years of mad shenanigans that the trio had wrought.
Those hopes lasted less than an hour after the event itself actually occurred. Apparently the trio had spent so long causing mayhem in the small town that it had become part of their idea of fun, and what better way to celebrate their third member finding her... red... pointy... tuning fork... thing... than with an adventure?
It was a good day.
* * * * *
The dream was the usual nonsense she expected, bits of her day jumbled in with random things her imagination came up with, like the entire town somehow being inside the old library, despite that place having burned down or not being nearly big enough. It was fun at first, but after a while, Scootaloo wanted to explore the dreamscape again, and started looking for the point where she could slip out.
Instead she found the book. It was sitting atop a pedestal bearing her mark, directly in her path every time she went to leave the dream. That alone would have made it odd, but there was more than that. Despite the cheery silliness of the rest of the dream, it gave of a feeling of foreboding, and somehow seemed to be leaking blood from between it's pages. As she turned away from it, she noticed that the town within the library was gone, leaving it back at it's normal size with only herself twilight and the other crusaders inside. ...and it was in front of her, again...
The strange bleeding book bothered scoot. What was it doing here? It wasn't part of this dream, of that she was sure... Closing her eyes a moment and focusing on the book, she willed it, and the blood pool dripping from it, away from her mind's recreation of the old library. When she opened them again... it was still there? Why was it still there? Why couldn't she remove this book from the dreamscape? She should be in complete control. Trotting over to it, guided by curiosity at why she could not influence the thing, she barely touched it when it opened itself. The words on the page glowing with an eerie grey light and as the light shined on her, she changed.
The light lifted her up. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to block it out. She could feel her wings grow to twice their size, bone and muscle stretching at tearing in it's haste to restructure itself, at the same time her jaw seemed to shift sharp fangs forming, and a sharp pain erupted in her forehooves as they lengthened into... something else. It didn't make sense, this was a dream, she shouldn't feel anything! And yet, it felt like her entire body was tearing itself apart as she changed. At the same time though, she couldn't help but smile. Behind the pain, stronger than it, was a feeling of power; the change was making her stronger, she could feel it. She didn't know how, but it was. It felt good...
Dropping back to her hooves as it ended, she opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was how her vision had changed. Everything seemed to have a faint white glow to it, and while most of the colour was gone every other part of her vision was sharper. Looking at herself, she spotted several differences immediately. Firstly, her fore-hooves were gone, replaced by two pair of long curved claws dripping with blood and stitched onto the stumps of her old limbs. Limbs that like the rest of her body looked badly discoloured now, the coat having thinned to partially show the rotten looking flesh beneath. The two together making her appear several shades darker than normal. Then there were her wings, long, skeletal, and just as bloody as her claws.
Panicked Scotaloo tried to banish the dream, but couldn't. She could change one or two pieces if she focused hard enough, but the moment her concentration broke they reverted. She would have continued trying had not a pained groan from behind her caught her attention. Her head whipping around, towards it's source. Behind her three black shadowy... things, stood where Twilight and her two friends had been before the dream had been corrupted.
They looked vaguely pony like, but seemed to be made of a featureless textureless black mass that would seem more void than object were it not for how her altered vision made things glow. Before she had time to try and figure out just what they were, one slung a hoof in her direction, a hoof that immediately extended into a bony spike, sheering through her side and throwing her backwards into the bookshelf.
scoot fights the dream itself but it keeps coming, eventually she finds a way to escape and finds her way back to raven, who immediately recognizing her form and the symbol on her flank. teaching her what she knows of the cursed dreams, and even helping her fight off the monsters when they follow her, in her own corrupted form. When it recedes, she changes back, but Scootaloo doesn't.
"I'm sorry... I never thought being free of the curse would mean forcing it onto someone else... This is my fault..." she says, cut off as the dream shatters around them, a momentary glimpse of the waking world before Scootaloo is back in the dreamscape. She starts to look for another dream to hide in, but is abruptly awoken by the feeling a hand garbing her as a blade pierces her back, the pain carrying over to the waking world as she bolts upright in bed.
Awake she realizes her hooves are painted red, and the book from the dream, the one that shares her mark, the one raven warned her about, is on her nightstand.
the next night, she escapes again and tries to go to raven for help, but her dream is missing and the ones around hers are giving off an aura of confusion and sadness. Looking in on one, she sees a strange girl very similar to her, but a bit younger otherwise empty bedroom crying and demanding to know 'why'. On the bed is a familiar red bow and a note that says. "I won't hurt anyone else." Visiting other connected dreams she keeps finding variations of the same room, and the exact same note, but no Raven.
She wants to learn more, to understand, but she can feel the cursed nightmare becoming a part of this dream and runs. If raven can't help her there has to be someone else. She starts jumping from dream to dream, searching for somepony, anypony who can help her. Eventually she finds one with Twilight in it, with her help she forces back the nightmare. Twilight tells her to bring her the book in the morning. the dream ends with scootaloo dying again, and again, the pain of it follows her into the real world.
Ch3:
When scoot wakes up she notices a few changes, both of her still red forehooves have a split running up them and are more jagged, the fur on her forelegs is starting to thin, and her feathers are staring to fall out. Going to twilights, ponyville seems emptier than usual... The two try and figure out what's happening both with the book, and to scoot. Twilight tries to break the curse magically, knocking Scootaloo out.
when the dreams come, they're different. she can feel other ponies in the dream, can hear a few of them screaming for help. Twilight's magic has altered it's nature, and now the curse itself is using her dreamwalking skill to drag other ponies in. she tries her hardest, to protect the other ponies caught in the dream but she can't save all of them, some getting torn to pieces by ghouls aparitions bombs and traps before her eyes. She brings as many as she can inside twilight's shield before her own 'death' breaks the dream and wakes her up.
When she wakes, there's verry little of her old self left. the thinning fur and discolored flesh stretch up to her shoulders now, her claws have come in on both her hooves and wings, and her eyes are starting to change. she soon finds twilight on the floor, unconscious, unable to wake up.
Dragging her to the hospital, the finds chaos there, all of the ponies she saw in the dream are there, some in beds hooked up to monitors, others just lying there, motionless. They aren't just being trapped and dying in the dream, it's happening out here, in the real world.
The doctors tend to twilight, and insist on looking at Scootaloo's 'injuries' as well. They don't know what to make of her, some kind of dark magic is clearly changing her, though they don't know into what. She does though.
Ch4:
Confined to her room in the hospital she tries to think of a way to fix things, only for her thoughts to be interrupted by a grating sustained tone, and doctors rushing in as the other pony sharing her room flat-lines. She hadn't seen who it was before now, a privacy screen keeping them seperate, but a familiar squeaky voice whimpering "Sis? Wake up... You've got to wake up..." tells her all too much.
Convinced she has to get away from there she runs. Runs as far as her hooves will take her. It doesn't take her long to notice somepony is following her. Rainbow wants to take her back to the hospital, get whatever's happening to her fixed. But scootaloo is determined not to go back. the chace taking them to the edge of ghastly gorge where scoot is cornered.
Waving her claws at rainbow to keep her from coming closer, Scootaloo begins shouting. "This is my fault! I'm doing this to them and I can't stop it! ...I... ...I won't hurt anypony else."
Stepping backwards, she falls from the cliff. Rainbow tries to catch her but can't get up to speed in time. only being able to land next to where she crashed and try to hold back the tears. I wasn't fast enough.
Epilogue:
in the hospital, applebloom finally wakes up, much to the relief of her exhausted big sister who's been at her bedside who knows how long. apparently the other victims are waking up as well... or atleast those that are still alive. Sweetie belle is now getting rather insistent that rarity needs to wake up, enough that applejack and applebloom can hear her from bloom's room. It's over, but it's taken a heavy toll.
In one of the houses on windmill street, a book bearing a strange symbol pulses lightly from atop the nightstand, glowing for a few moments before going dim.
