Scoot 10

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER CAMPERS, YAY!”

Three hooves raised and bumped each other, the trio of friends laughing as they reunited after several months apart pursuing their own dreams. Scootaloo had gone on to be a stunts pony, along with the occasional Extreme Sports competition. Sweetie Belle, to nopony’s surprise, went to a University to train her voice. Often times, she came back to lend her talents for whatever show Ponyville had set up.

Apple Bloom still spent much of her time on the Apple Farm, but to her friend’s surprise manage to prove to Twilight that she was willing to work under her. A few months later, the Princess declared the yellow filly her apprentice. Her friends were quite surprised, but decided to encourage her on regardless.

After several exchanges of mail over the past month, the trio had finally managed to arrange a time when all three were free for a weekend. Having not done so since they were fillies, the Crusaders traveled back to Ponyville with camping bags packed and ready to go. Apple Bloom gestured to a cart she brought with her, already filled with her own bags along with the tents they had agreed she would take care of.

“Ready girls?” Apple Bloom asked, as the other two arranged their bags alongside the rest of the equipment. Scootaloo pulled open her own satchel and skimmed through the contents.

“Actually...” Scootaloo said, “You two should hop in.”

“Why?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo buzzed her wing. “Old times sake, Crusaders?”

The other two of the trio looked at each other and grinned. “Crusaders forever.” Hoofbump.

Scootaloo sighed happily, cartwheeling over the skies of the Whitetail Forest. The setting sun cast beautiful shadows across the campsite. As she rolled, she spotted the silhouettes of her friends getting the campfire ready. Oh, right, I should drop off the firewood.

She landed, proudly shaking the cluster of sticks onto the camp floor. Apple Bloom stared back in disbelief. “That’s ... sticks.”

Scootaloo tilted her head. “You said about fifteen pieces, right?”

“I mean, it’ll work for starting the fire, but this ... this kindling will only last half an hour at best.” Apple Bloom scratched her head. “This wasn’t supposed to take just one trip.”

The pegasus winced. “Ah. I might have wasted a few minutes stretching my wings.” She glanced back to her unpacked bags. “I’ll get to it right--”

Apple Bloom patted Scootaloo’s shoulder. “How ‘bout this. Sweetie and I will get your stuff sorted out. Focus on finding heavier branches, and we’ll have your sleeping bag and food ready.”

Scootaloo smiled. “Thanks. I won’t let you down.” She flapped her wings open and shot into the sky.

“And of course,” Sweetie called out when the pegasus was just a blur in the distance, “we get to tease her about the Rainbow Dash Wonderbolt plushie she still carries around.”

“Ooh! Let me see!”

The moon was starting to rise; Scootaloo had at least managed to find enough fallen branches that hadn’t decomposed away to get the fire going at least, but if they wanted it to last for a few more hours she would need to get more. “This might have been a lot easier if we did this after the Running of the Leaves.” Scootaloo muttered. “And breaking up new branches wouldn’t be nice, on top of having a lot more smoke.”

She sucked in a deep breath, and zipped lower through the trees. Her friends were counting on her to get this done quickly, and there were marshmallows on the line.

Her musings were cut off by a large flash of light overhead. She paused, flying a little higher and saw a meteor burning across the sky. Her eyes sparkled. “Cool! Never seen one this bright before.” She followed it’s path for a moment before realizing it was getting brighter. And closer.

With a mighty crash, and a sparkling mushroom cloud, in smashed into a nearby section of the Forest. Scootaloo quickly darted behind a tree to shield her from the worst of the debris.

Once it stopped, the pegasus poked her head out from behind the branches. “I wonder if that dried out the debris,” she pondered, tapping her chin. Her eyes brightened up at an idea. “Oh! I can show it to the girls too! Cutie Mark Crusader Rock Scientists, yay!” she said to herself. With a grin, she buzzed over the trees to investigate it.

She pulled upwards a bit, allowing her to see the gentle flickering of the campsite and the smoldering crater of the meteor impact. As she drew closer, something very strange became apparent.

Besides the orange flickers of fire, there was also a strange pulse of green light.

Despite her apprehension, Scootaloo’s curiosity led her closer. The area had become eerily quiet. Most of the wildlife in the area got scared off, it seemed. She flitted behind branches and trees, carefully poking an eye out to check for any ... aliens? If there was rustling, it was either going to be her or aliens.

After getting only a few hooflengths away, she began circling the crash site. Still nothing. Confident that there was either nopony there, or dead, she crawled into the still smouldering clearing.

There was a blackened pod, with traces of red and white paint barely able to be discerned over the smudges of dirt and grime. A ovoid door was cracked open from the harsh impact. Scootaloo saw a black box knocked over, it cover open, the source of the pulsing flash of green.

To her surprise, it looked like there was a bracelet of some sort, or even a compact timepiece. Despite the wreckage around it, it still looked clean as if fresh out of whatever space factory it came from.

“Hello?” she called out. “Anypony there?” Nothing.

She cautiously walked into the light. Distracted by her vigilance, she stepped near the wristband.

Ca-Click

Scootaloo spun just in time to see the wristband snap open and lunge at her. Before she could react, it had clamped onto her left foreleg. “AHHH!” she screamed, waving her arm. “Geditoff, geditoff, gedioff!” She backed up frantically, her wings beating. A flailing arm slapped the bracelet, causing it to glow and inject twin rivers of pain coursing through her body.

And then it was over. Curiously, Scootaloo noticed she was a meter higher. She looked behind herself and saw the body of an orange dragon. “Wha- ow.” She nursed a scraped tongue. Her mouth was full of fangs now. This is new.

Fl-slap

Leather wings, too. Cool. Does this turn off? Don’t want to scare the girls.

“I wonder if it was a good idea to go hunting for dry wood in the middle of spring,” Apple Bloom pondered as she set to shaping the cluster of twigs to start burning. “With the sun down, it’s going to be even harder.”

“Relax,” Sweetie Belle called from inside a tent. There was the sound of a sleeping bag snapping open. “I heard her mention Rainbow giving her defensive flying tricks. Anything that wants to catch her unawares is going to have to really work for it, and by that time we’ll hear here. Now come on, if we don’t start soon we won’t have any fire to marshmellow.”

Apple Bloom sighed, sparing a final glance at the darkening forest, before turning back and trotting back towards the campsite.

The first thing that told her something was about to go horribly wrong was when Sweetie Belle glanced up from her seat on the log and stared in horror at something behind her. Apple Bloom froze mid-step as Sweetie Belle rocketed towards her, horn flickering.

Her pulse thudded heavily in her ears as it felt like she was turning her head in slow motion. A skeletal figure reared over her, pits of hellfire glowing in sunken eye sockets. Gleaming teeth were backlit by a fireball growing in its scorched mouth.

“APPLE BLOOM!”

A white hoof passed over her, grabbed her head and pushed her down. Sweetie Belle vaulted over Apple Bloom’s back and twisted in midair in order to shield her friend’s back.

There was a flash of green and orange.

Apple Bloom blinked charred mane out of her eyes. “S-sweetie?” Her hooves started to shake as her hooves slowly curled around the cold body. “Please, Ah ... can’t...” Wait, cold--?

“Hey girls--Woah!”

Apple Bloom snapped her head to the side, her pupils shrinking as Scootaloo darted behind a tree, ducking underneath a fireball sailing off into the forest. “SCOOT!” she screamed. “RUN!”

Scootaloo crouched, her eyes locking with her friend, then darting to something by her hoof. “...No. I can do this.”

“What?!”

The pegasus fiddled with something on her hoof, then pushed it. There was burst of green light and a cry of pain. Then the demon took aim and blasted another fireball into the tree, collapsing it.

“SCOOTALOO!”

Too everyone’s surprise, Scootaloo was still standing, or more accurately, sorta kinda hovering. Her body was also now orange tinted smoke, with purple slitted eyes.

“Apple Bloom, do you trust me?” she asked as another fireball whizzed through her. It did nothing but make her wince slightly and waver a bit.

Apple Bloom glanced down at the corpse of her friend. “Of course.”

“Then hang on!” Scootaloo suddenly leapt at her, almost gliding towards her on wings of wind. Apple Bloom squeezed her eyes shut as a wave of cold pierced her, clawing down her throat and into her lungs.

You know, I’m somewhat disappointed there’s not Apple themed chanting here.

Scootaloo?

I had a bet with Sweet.... Never mind. Hey, open your eyes

Huh? Apple Bloom looked down, then looked again. She was noticeably taller, with shadowed hooves and--is that a horn?

Yeah, I know. Not really sure how to use that yet, but hey, I know how to use the wings--! Move!

“Ee!” she squeaked as she stumbled forwards. Apparently their mental conversation went faster than she thought. Her reactions too. The demon thing loped after her, another fireball ready, but it seemed as if it was running through jelly. As she circled the campsite, she felt invisible limbs settle over her like a jacket. The wings on her back flexed on their own.

Together. Avenge our friend.

Let’s.

Apple Bloom suddenly snapped to a halt, her wings back swinging furiously. The instant she had a stable hoof hold, she snapped her hind legs out, sending out two very satisfying cracks. One from her hooves slamming into the creature’s jaws. The second came from the sound barrier breaking.

Jets of flame burned through its eye sockets as its flames were unable to be release in time. While distracted, They shot into the air and dive-bombed it, smashing its torso into the forest floor.

“This is for Sweetie Belle, monster.” The dark alicorn grabbed the demon by the legs and blasted into the sky with one powerful wing-beat. They drew a large circle in the sky before letting go just as they were accelerating downwards.

After regaining their breaths, they slowly glided over to examine their handiwork. There was just a blood stain left, shattered bones spreading out in a radius.

Sighing heavily, they landed off to the side and began a slow walk back towards their ruined campsite.

“Where did that come from?”

“The anger earlier, or the ... demonic thing.”

“Hmm, both actually.”

“She ... died to save us. It still doesn’t ... sit right. As for the other, I don’t know.”

“That’s worrying. We may need to contact the authorities. Get their attentio--wait, Sweetie?”

To their surprise, Sweetie was sitting up, facing away from them as she rubbed at her face. At their voice, Sweetie turned to glance at the dark alicorn, who gasped at the sight.

It wasn’t just blood and bone. Half of her skull was netted with steel wire holding the cracks in her skull together. Half of her eye remained, though with cracks spider webbing over the foggy sphere. She blinked at them, only her left eye working, as they froze in shock. “Uh, I can--”

Beep Beep Beep

The alicorn looked down through the wispy magic that covered her body at the small hourglass of pulsing red light.

With a pop, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom split apart, collapsing in a tangle of flailing limbs.

The unicorn gasped at the sight of the black watch clamped to Scootaloo’s arm, then started rubbing her temples. “Oh boy, there’s a lot of stuff I’m going to have to explain to you two.”