Scootaloo's Gift
Princess Luna did not rest yet until her job was done. Somewhere, there was a pony or foal having a nightmare. It made her itch in the back of her neck, and it was really annoying. On this particular night, the only pony left who had a nightmare was the one she couldn't find. She flapped her wings and flew out of her own dream, an aqua lake with white swans swimming in it, and went high up in the night sky. Her vision expanded, and she saw everypony's dreams up to the town of Ponyville. That's where it was coming from. She flew gracefully over to the Ponyville dream map, and saw the little filly, Scootaloo, was having a nightmare. She had dealt with the filly's dreams before, and so saw nothing to worry about. Although the last time she had helped, she had helped Scootaloo overcome her fears, but that was under special circumstances, because Scootaloo wasn't really having a dream, she was just scared. Usually she just fought off nightmares, and that's what she was going to do now. Sh spiraled downward into the dream, and saw a scared filly curled up in the middle of the dark room. She seemed to be staring at something, although Luna couldn't see what it was. She flew over to get a better view, and was quite surprised, and not in a good way, to find Scootaloo crying. The dark room was only lit by the faintest of glows, from a dim lampshade . Suddenly a pegasus pony opened the door, and let light flood in. It just made Scootaloo cry harder. Luna stepped forward near the pony.
"Scootaloo? Are you alright?" The pony who had orange fur and a navy blue mane suspiciously like Scootaloo's asked. Luna wasn't sure why Scootaloo was crying, but she didn't like it. Her horn blazed with blue light, and she directed it towards the pegasus, and the dream's creation broke into pieces. The dreamscape shattered around her too, and Luna rebuilt a happier dream, one like hers, with graceful swans and soft bark willow trees and a pretty lake. Scootaloo did not look up, although her sobs were softer. Luna disappeared into the clouds, content. The itching in the back of her neck went away, and she flew up to her dream moon, and settled down on the rocky surface. She could sleep peacefully now, and she did. But in the back of her mind, a thought lingered, unable to rest. She ignored it for now. But she knew that it would need answering sometime.
Scootaloo lived in the orphanage. As she listened to her fellow foals sleeping, she frankly wondered how they could sleep at night, with all their pasts. Scoots had recently developed a fear of sleeping. Every time, her mother came in, and saw the lampshade, and scolded her. And she cried, every time. But Scootaloo was not one to give in easily, so she did go to sleep. She needed to conquer the dream. But most nights, Luna came in and stopped her mother. Don't get me wrong, Scootaloo had loved her mother. But it brought back bad memories that she liked to keep locked up in the back of her mind, and focus on less painful things. But again, she closed her eyes and let the dreamscape wash over her. She had consulted Twilight on this, and knew that Luna was a heavy sleeper. Scoots didn't bother asking Twilight how she knew that, but it wasn't her business so she didn't pry. Celestia probably told her. But Scootaloo desperately hoped Luna wouldn't wake up and vanquish her mother again. And then she landed with a hard thump in the dimly lit room. She got up, determined to overcome this never ending nightmare, and walked over to the lampshade. It was her lampshade. This was her room. She started to cry. She missed it, and it was torturing her just to be able to see it there, where she could never really be there again. Her mother entered the room, and came to where Scootaloo looked at the lampshade with tears running down her cheeks.
"It's okay, my little Scootaloo, you'll be okay." Her mother stroked her head softly. "You'll be okay." Luna's neck itched again, and she cried out angrily. But she knew exactly where it was coming from, just the same as from the nightmare she had already shattered. She teleported there, and shot a blast of light at the pony next to Scootaloo. Scootaloo's face turned angry.
"Princess Luna, you're not helping! Just let me conquer my own fears! I have to fight my own demons!" Scootaloo said angrily, in a cracking voice. "Let me wake up!" Luna did as she told, although she was shocked. But Scootaloo was right, she realized, if she wanted to overcome her own fears she would have to do it alone. And then the dream world shattered around her as Scootaloo woke up.
Scootaloo cried into her fur. The night was silent, and haunting. Her tears turned silver in the moonlight, and she flopped down on the white pillow. She stared at the ceiling, her tears not stopping. Soon the shadows around her grew frightening and tall, engulfing her. She felt tiny. And when the sun came up, she stayed, her eyes not closing a single bit. And she cried until her eyes ran dry.
"Scootaloo?" A familiar voice now muffled came from outside the sheets in which Scootaloo had buried herself in. Scootaloo frowned and said nothing. "The orphanage manager said you didn't come down for breakfast. Are you okay?" The sheets twitched and an orange head peered out from under the blankets.
"No." She answered honestly. But there was no way Sweetie Belle could know about her nightmares. They would all think she was a scaredy filly and make fun of her. Of course they wouldn't! Scootaloo then thought, disgusted with herself that she would even think that.
"Yeah, no kiddin, sugarcube. Ya really don't look so good." Applebloom appeared from behind Sweetie. Scootaloo looked at herself. AB was right. She was a mess. Her fur was sticking out in places and it was wet from her crying. Her mane had lots of hairs going wild.
"Uh, rough night. I didn't sleep well." Scootaloo said, patting down her mane. AB brightened.
"Ya wanna have a sleepover at my place?" She asked her two friends, looking excited.
"Sure!" Scootaloo and Sweetie said at the same time. "Right now I'm hungry, though." Scootaloo added, shaking off her nightmare. Her belly rumbled at the thought of food. "Why don't we go to Sugarcube Corner?" She suggested eagerly.
"Why not?" Sweetie shrugged. AB looked at them quizzically.
"Ah don't suppose any of y'all got money?" AB asked quietly.
"No, but I'll bet Pinkie'll give us something for free." Sweetie said after a minute of silence and deep thinking. Scootaloo nodded, and AB agreed. The two fillies got Scootaloo out of the tangle of sheets and they hurried off towards the Cake's house. They skidded to a halt at the doorstep and tried to reach the door. Scootaloo flapped her wings hard and finally reached the door and opened it. She then dropped down with a thud, or would have if AB and Sweetie hadn't caught her.
"Thanks," Scootaloo said, gasping for breath. She stood up, and went through the door, followed by her other crusaders. They stopped by the order desk, and Pinkie appeared.
"What can I get for you?" She said in an excited chatter. Sweetie Belle opened her mouth, "Oh, you don't have any money." Pinkie finished Sweetie's sentence. "That's okay, I'll give you something for free. I'm sure the Cakes won't mind." The crusaders cast looks at each other, then shrugged.
"We'd like three milkshakes, one vanilla, two chocolate." Sweetie knew her friends' favorite milkshakes. Pinkie zipped off, as Pinkie does, and the three fillies smiled at one another. They sat at a pink table, and waited for their drinks to come. Soon enough, they appeared, carried on a platter by Pinkie.
"Here you go! Have a nice day!" Pinkie said, oddly formal as she set the drinks down. She waved, going back to her regular self, and heard Mrs. Cake calling. "Gotta go!" She exclaimed, and let the fillies sip their milkshakes in peace. The day went by numbly for Scootaloo. She heard the voices of her friends, although they were distant and muffled. She often zoned out, until AB or Sweetie waved a hoof in her face. The first thing they did was go by the Boutique to ask Rarity if Sweetie could go to a sleepover, and Rarity aptly said yes. That was the first time she zoned out, her friends' faces had gone blurry and her eyes were starting to get visibly bloodshot. Then they went and found Rainbow Dash at the market, where Scootaloo asked her, stonily, as if she had no clue what was going on around her, the same question that Sweetie had asked Rarity. Dash cast her an odd look, then nodded. More things happened. Scootaloo paid no attention. As the sun lowered in the sky, Scootaloo's eyes continually snapped shut. At the clubhouse, setting up the sleepover, AB finally snapped.
"Scoots? What in the world of Equestria is wrong with ya today?" AB said concernedly. "Ah don't even think ya know what we did today!" She said to her friend, who blinked. She looked at her friend's bloodshot eyes. "I think we could use some sleep though," AB said after a large yawn. Sweetie nodded in agreement. They each got into their sleeping bags, Applebloom's was orange, Sweetie's was purple, and Scootaloo's was blue. Sweetie and AB tried to go to sleep, but they couldn't. Their friend kept shuffling around in her light blue sleeping bag. Then Sweetie also snapped.
"Scootaloo, get comfortable, please?" Sweetie asked in a modest tone, although she didn't look too happy. "We're both trying to get some sleep here." She motioned at AB and her. Scootaloo didn't hear. She was lost in her own thoughts, and struggling. She couldn't face that nightmare, not even one more time! She buried her face in her pillow and closed her eyes. It was best that her friends not think she was a cryfilly for being scared of a dream.
"Scoots! Tell us what's wrong!" AB demanded. This time the words reached Scootaloo's ears. She shook them off like water on her fur. "Now, Scootaloo!" Her voice lost it's accent as she growled at her friend. "We're all here to help in any way we can." Her voice softened, and she exchanged glances with Sweetie. Scootaloo lifted her head in defeat, her eyes puffy from crying.
"I can't sleep at night. I haven't been able to since two days ago. There's this dream.. It haunts me." She broke off into tears, and felt ashamed her friends saw her like this. But she went on, and told them every detail, the shattering when Luna broke her mother's projection, the lamp she used to read with at night, the darkness of the room, her crumpled sheets, and described it. At the end of the story, she went back to burying her face in the pillow. She couldn't remember why she bothered telling them in the first place anymore. Then Sweetie spoke up, after listening patiently the whole way through.
"Scoots, how about you move your sleeping bag between us?" She suggested, patting the gap between AB's and her's sleeping bags. Scootaloo looked up.
"Oh, alright." She gave in to Sweetie's puppy dog eyes, which followed her wherever she turned. She heaved the sleeping bag up, and although it was not heavy, it collapsed on her. AB dug her way through the coils, and pulled the sleeping bag into place. Scootaloo whispered her thanks, and then rested her head on it. No sleep came, and she wanted no sleep to come. "Why did you want me to come right here anyways? Are you gonna make fun of me for being scared?" Scootaloo voiced her thoughts. AB and Sweetie looked aghast.
"Of course not! You're our friend, Scoots! We would never make fun of you! We love you!" Sweetie said.
"Yeah! Ah don't think anything less of ya 'cause you're scared! Everypony gets scared, Scoots, 's a natural thing." AB comforted her fellow crusader.
"Even Rainbow gets scared sometimes," Sweetie added with a hint of a smile. "And yeah. I wouldn't think anything less of you just because you're scared. We'll be here for you."
"So you're not going to make fun of me?" Scootaloo asked for clarification.
" 'Course not, Scoots. As Sweetie said, we love ya. Ah, personally, wouldn't hate you if Ah got Equestria for it." AB stated. Scootaloo looked confused for a moment.
"What she means is that she would rather love you than have Equestria." Sweetie said in an answer to Scootaloo's question. She looked thoughtful for a minute. "And so would I."
"Now, Ah am plumb tired right now, so I need some sleep. But Scoots, remember that we would never hate you." AB closed her eyes, and Sweetie nodded, and caught AB's yawn. They all closed their eyes, but while Scootaloo was comforted by their words, knowing that they would never abandon her, she still couldn't sleep. She didn't want to sleep still, either.
"Sweetie, AB?" Scootaloo squeaked. It was clear that her friends had not fallen asleep yet. "I'm scared." Her voice trailed off at the end. This wasn't like Scootaloo, but the two friends didn't mind. They moved closer to the filly, and Scootaloo laid her head in Sweetie's hooves. AB nuzzled her friend, and it soon became a pile of warm fillies. Not on top of each other, just in a pony pile. Scootaloo closed her eyes, not quite afraid anymore, and rested her head. She had no nightmares that night, but not because she had overcome that fear, but because her friends had helped her. And she loved them too.
