A Bad End Leads to a Good End

Chapter 8: Darkrai's Attack

The first thing Scootaloo noticed when she woke up was the the storm had passed on during the night and Celestia's morning sun was shining brightly through the window. She felt something warm on her chest and looked down to see Apple Bloom asleep on her chest with a smile and a blush on her face. Scootaloo got the same look on her own when she saw that, remembering the events of last night. However, the silence was broken as the sound of Scootaloo's stomach growling loud enough to wake Apple Bloom up, who lifted her head and giggled at the sound.

"Mornin' Scoots, sounds like yer hungry." said Apple Bloom, who was still giggling.

"Yeah, I guess so." said Scootaloo, who was blushing from embarrassment. However, Apple Bloom suddenly noticed a white orb in the room.

"Huh? What's that?" asked Apple Bloom as she got up off Scootaloo and picked up the white orb.

"Maybe Twilight will know. She is an egghead after all." said Scootaloo, earning another giggle from Apple Bloom. The two made their way downstairs to see Pinkie Pie already awake baking some pancakes. Soon, everypony else came down, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were surprised to see Spike carrying a black orb similar to the orb they had now. Everypony gathered at the table right as Pinkie came in with the pancakes.

"Here ya go everypony! I hope you like these pancakes!" said Pinkie as she sat down with her friends and began eating. As they were eating, Twilight got everypony's attention.

"I've got to tell all of you something. Last night, I got a letter from Princess Celestia telling me that Princess Luna was attacked by a unknown creature. After I read it, I met that creature and battled one of it's minions with Spike's help. The creature that attacked Luna is called Darkrai and he wants to turn all of Equestria into a land of darkness." said Twilight, earning a small gasp from everypony else as Spike picked up where Twilight left off.

"What's more is that Darkrai killed Discord and took his powers, then made us fight that minion of his back in Ponyville when it was under Discord's control. We even saw the corrupted versions of all of you, except for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo of course. But after we beat that large dragon that was Darkrai's minion, the dragon split into 2 regular dragons and one of the dragon's turned into this orb." said Spike as he picked up the Black Orb.

"Wait a minute Spike, when me and Scoots woke up this mornin', we found an orb similar to that one!" said Apple Bloom as she revealed the white orb and put it on the table. Before anyone could speak up, Spike suddenly belched up a letter and Twilight grabbed it with her magic, unraveling it and began reading the letter out loud.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle and friends,

After doing some studying myself, I've found out about two creatures that could have the potential to defeat this new threat. Like me and my sister, these 2 creatures are also deities and they're power is unimaginable. One is called the God of Fire, or in other words, Reshiram. The other is called the God of Lightning, or in other words, Zekrom. However, it is said that one time in a land called Unova, they were part of a great war that destroyed their physical forms and turned them into orbs, one black and one white. And I have sensed that these 2 orbs have been transported to Equestria by some unknown power. I will inform you of anything else I find.

Yours Truly,

Princess Celestia"

"Wait, maybe these 2 orbs that the princess was talkin' about are the ones we have right now!" said Applejack, which got everypony curious until Pinkie started shaking uncontrollably suddenly.

"W-W-W-Whoa! M-my P-P-Pinkie S-S-Sense is g-g-going w-w-whackers!" said Pinkie when both Rarity and Sweetie Belle suddenly burst through the front doors of Sugarcube Corners.

"Hey, you guys need to come see this!" said Sweetie, with a look of panic on her face.

"The sky has gone completely dark!" said Rarity, which made everypony get up rush outside to see the sun still out, but the entire sky pitch black.

"W-What's going on?" asked a terrified Fluttershy.

"Alright, who ever's doing this, get your flank out here so I can kick it!" yelled Rainbow Dash, only to be awarded with an eerie laughter, one that Twilight recognized.

"Oh no...that voice...Darkrai!" Twilight said, with her being awarded with an icicle spear hitting the ground near them. They all looked up and saw Darkrai standing on Kyurem, who was floating in mid-air.

"I'm pleased you now know my own voice Twilight Sparkle." said Darkrai.

"So you're the one who's been causing havoc all over Equestria?!" asked Rainbow Dash as she got ready to charge at Darkrai.

"That's right...Hmm?" Darkrai then took notice of Apple Bloom, who was hiding behind Scootaloo, who was trying to act brave in front of Darkrai.

"Why is there a zombie in this town? No matter, I here to send you all a message, and looks like I now know who I want to use to send it." Darkrai said as he suddenly used his powers to lift Apple Bloom in the air.

"AHH!" yelled a surprised Apple Bloom.

"APPLE BLOOM!!" yelled Scootaloo as Kyurem suddenly started charging up something. Rainbow Dash tried to stop it, but Darkrai suddenly blasted Dash with a Dark Pulse attack, sending her crashing into everypony else except Scootaloo.

"This will happen to those who get in my way! Now Kyurem, Glaciate!" commanded Darkrai as Kyurem suddenly blasted a large amount of icicle spears and a shock wave that started destroying the buildings while the shock wave started freezing most of the ground and many other things. Twilight was able to use her magic to prevent everyone from getting frozen, but one icicle spear was headed right for Apple Bloom, who only watched in terror as the spear came closer.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" yelled Apple Bloom as she closed her eyes and waited for her doom to come, but it never did. The only thing she felt was some blood splatter on her face as she opened her eyes and saw a very unwelcome sight. Scootaloo had jumped up in front of her and took the hit for her, with the icicle spear piercing all the way through her body. Blood oozed from the wounds as Scootaloo coughed up blood and fell down to the ground motionless. Apple Bloom felt herself get dropped and as soon as she was on the ground, she rushed over to Scootaloo's side.

"Oh no...SCOOTS!" shouted Apple Bloom as she tried to help Scootaloo in any way while Darkrai just laughed.

"Seems like she wanted to die very badly! At least my message was sent! Good bye for now!" said Darkrai as he and Kyurem vanished into the darkness. Everypony else got up and saw Scootaloo, which made them all gasp.

"This is bad! Rainbow Dash, go get a doctor!" said Twilight as she began trying to take the spear out of Scootaloo's body. Rainbow Dash, knowing how bad the situation was, immediately flew towards Ponyville Hospital as fast as she could, doing a Sonic Rainboom in the process but no one didn't care because of Scootaloo's condition. After the spear was taken out, Fluttershy did her best to wrap the the would up with some bandages before taking the now unconscious young pegasus filly inside to a bed so she could rest. During all this time, Apple Bloom never left Scootaloo's side. The sky also returned to normal, but Apple Bloom didn't care at all. She was praying to Celestia that Scootaloo survived.

"Please Scoots...Ah love ya so much...don't leave me..." Apple Bloom said as she started crying, burying her face into the side of Scootaloo's bed. She was so busy crying that she didn't notice another pony coming up to her and placing her hoof on Apple Bloom, causing her head to shoot up and turn to the pony. She was met with a familiar sight as the pony she was now looking at had a blonde mane and tail, nearly similar to Applejack's, and had a gray coat with a magnifying glass as a cutie mark. The most significant feature of this pony was the glowing yellow eyes.

"Ruby?! What are ya doin' here?! Last time Ah saw ya, Ah was gettin' help from ya gettin' out of the Everfree Forest!" said Apple Bloom, completely surprised from the appearance of the ghost pony.

"I know and I'm sorry you ended up like this. It's my fault I couldn't help you as much as I could." said Ruby, sounding very sad.

"It's alright, ya did yer best. But me bein' one of those zombies...it was worse before." said Apple Bloom as she then started explaining to Ruby what had happened ever since she got out of the Everfree Forest, from Applejack finding her to her revealing herself to Scootaloo to even sharing her first kiss with the young pegasus. Unknowing to both of them though, Scootaloo had regained consciousness, but was too weak to even open her eyes or even say anything. All she could do was listen to Apple Bloom explain everything. After Apple Bloom got done explaining, Ruby nodded and then put a hoof on Scootaloo's forehead, causing the pegasus to seemingly flinch, but it went unnoticed to Ruby as she pulled her hoof off with a sad look on her face.

"I'm afraid she won't make it on her own." said Ruby, earning a gasp from Apple Bloom and for Scootaloo's heart to suddenly sink.

'I'm going to die!? No, I don't believe it!' Scootaloo thought, trying to desperately even open her eyes, but her body wouldn't respond to her needs.

"W-W-What am Ah suppose ta do!? Ah won't let Scoots die on me, not after what she's done fer me!" Apple Bloom said. Ruby closed her eyes as if she was in deep thought. But then she opened her eyes and looked at the nearby table, where she then noticed the black and white orbs on the table, causing Ruby's eyes to widen.

"Those orbs...Apple Bloom, where did you find them?!" asked a shocked Ruby.

"Twilight said she got the black one after she beat someone called Darkrai and me and Scoots found the white one in mah room this mornin'." said Apple Bloom. Ruby looked at the orbs with much curiosity before turning back to Apple Bloom with what seemed to be a smile on her face.

"Consider yourself lucky friend, these orbs have some sort of special power. If you can unlock this power, you can save the one you love." said Ruby, earning a big gasp from Apple Bloom.

"Really!? Please Ruby, if ya know how ta get those dragons back to their regular forms, please tell me! Ah'll do anythin' ta heal Scoots!" said Apple Bloom, only for Ruby to look at her with a now serious look.

"I do know where you can release this power...but unfortunately, in order for you to do so...you must return to where you became one of the cursed ones in the first place." said Ruby.

"Y-Ya mean Ah've got ta head back ta Sunny Town?" asked Apple Bloom, earning a nod from Ruby.

"...Ah'll do it. If it means Ah can save Scoots, Ah'll do it." said Apple Bloom, only for both of them to hear somepony at the door.

"That's mah lil' sis' fer ya, just as stubborn as me." came the voice of the new pony as both Apple Bloom and Ruby saw Apple Bloom's own sister, Applejack, standing there,

"APPLEJACK?! What are ya doin' here?!" asked a surprised Apple Bloom.

"Well ya don't think we're goin' to let ya do this on yer own, did ya?" asked Applejack, giving Apple Bloom a confused look until she saw both Twilight and Rainbow Dash also enter the room.

"We heard everything and if what I've learned is true, then that White Orb is actually Reshiram and if reviving both it and Zekrom is the only way to save Scootaloo, then we'll do everything to help you Apple Bloom." said Twilight, giving the filly a warm smile. Ruby, however, had a concerned look on her face.

"Are you all sure about this? You saw what happened to this young one after she entered Sunny Town. Are you willing to risk your own lives to help your friend?" asked Ruby.

"Heck yeah! I'm not the Element of Loyalty for nothing! Plus, if that Darkrai shows up, I'll give him one heck of a beat down! Besides, I care about squirt more then you think." said Dash, getting a smile from Apple Bloom.

"Thank you everypony, you really are the best friends anypony could ask for." said Apple Bloom. Soon, they all exited, but Ruby took one last look at Scootaloo, who was still motionless, before exiting. However, after she did, the bed sheets seemed to move and after some time, 4 orange hooves hit the ground, with the pony they belonged to fighting her injuries to slowly follow her friends.

"I'm not...going to let...those guys...go on...without...me..." said Scootaloo weakly.