Chapters A Night In The Never Free.
Scootaloo trotted across the empty path leading into The Everfree, her hoofsteps echoing high into the treetops as all light was almost blocked out by the overgrowth of the forest. It being mid-day still felt closer to midnight if anything else, the child wondering if the ad promising twenty bits a day for “Help” was worth it.
The tiny pegasus came to a large block in the path, thorns growing around many bushes and trees. She tilted her head to the side to make out a detour, yet could only see the twisted growth of this dark place.
Wondering if she should turn back the child spun around, the dark outline of a pony watching her from a nearby hill barely catching her attention. Bleak eyes and a shadowy frame gave haste as it bolted off, the figure fast for anypony she had seen.
Scootaloo swallowed the lump in her throat, pushing off the main path and into the tangled woods around her. Her violet colored hues keeping watch for the strange pony, she could feel thorns and branches claw at her coat like monstrous claws.
She let out small yelps of pain, the blood from the many scratches forming across her body trickling down towards the ground. Each new scratch stung like a lashing from a whip, she tried to call out but felt the words trapped in her throat.
Bursting out of the brush with many a new cut across her small frame, she came muzzle first to a small cozy cabin lost within the middle of this horrible place. Smoke wafting from the chimney giving hope that somepony was home, her tiny hoofsteps carrying her over to the old wooden frame.
“Knock-knock” Her delicate hooves pounded across the oak frame, the sound of her breathing starting to calm as she waited for a reply.
“Hello? I’m Scootaloo, I’m looking to answer an ad for help?” She spoke in a soft spoken voice, not wanting to draw attention to herself.
“I think...somepony might be out here? Can you please open up?” Scootaloo tapped her tiny hooves across the frame again.
She could feel those bleak eyes gazing into her soul, she swung around to catch a glimpse of the shadow. Yet she could see nothing but dying woods for miles, those eyes hidden somewhere deep within burning into her soul.
The pony was close she could feel it, blending in with the death around it. Taking joy in the fear it brought the small child, the pegasus could just stand out in the open shivering wildly. Her hoof lifting up to smack the door, her echoes wafting about to deaf ears.
“Anypony home!?” She spoke in a loud and frightened tone, walking over to a dust covered window and glancing inside curiously.
“Thwack!” The loud pop of an axe slamming down right next to the child's head, slicing deep into the wooden window sill like melted butter.
“Ahhh!”
“Whatcha doing buddy?” A mint colored unicorn mare giggled softly as she stood on her hind hooves, resting up against the shaft of the axe in a playful manner while watching the child fall to the ground with a thud.
“Did you try and hit me with an axe!?” Scootaloo felt her heart racing deep within her chest wildly, threatening to explode out into the open at any second.
“Phst. No! I always smack my axe there.” The mare gave a loud snort as she flaunted a hoof to the sill, indeed many axe like slashes could be seen across the surface.
Scootaloo gave a soft groan as she fell back first onto the cold moist ground, her eyes gazing into the hidden sky above as she took a minute to collect herself from the scare. The mint mare cantering over with a smile, glancing down to the child shaking her head softly.
“You must be Scootalong?”
“Loo”
“Ah! Loo right! Well I’m Lyra Heartstrings, but you may call me friend.” Lyra gave a soft wink and helped the child back to her feet.
“I thought you…”
“Lived in town? I do! But my marefriend Sweetie is hosting a La-de-da!”
“La-de-da?”
“A fancy pants party! I of course didn’t want any of that, so I’m holding up in our spare cabin for the weekend.” Lyra gave a small stretch as she galloped over to the front door, using her light green magic to float a key down from the roof.
“Um. What is it that you need help with?”
“I need a friend.”
“Umm.”
“I hate being out in the woods alone, so I thought what a better way to meet new ponies than an ad!”
“...”
“So yeah. No jobs really, I just need somepony to talk with and help me scarf down some junk food.”Lyra unlocked the door with a soft click, simply tossing the key back onto the roof afterwards.
Scootaloo tilted her head to the side unsure what to think about this, taking a few steps forward she peeked into the cabin. Within was a cozy set up for a weekend getaway, the fireplace had a dwindling flame and freshly bought supplies were set atop a nearby table.
The filly inched within as the mare clicked the door closed behind her with a soft click, the cabin was in great condition and very clean with various knick-knacks lining the wall.Scootaloo blinking confused at a wall to the left, across every inch of it were photos of just Lyra alone at different locations across Equestria.
“Um. Why are you alone in all the…”Scootaloo scrunched her muzzle, seeing a large self portrait painted to the right, the mare flashing a very forced duckface upon it.
“Well. This is my little getaway, I call this wall “The Me Machine!”.” Lyra giggled and softly inched the portrait to the side to keep it centered.
“...”
“I painted this one by hoof on a warm winter day…”Lyra gave a soft sigh and spun to face the filly, her eyes locking upon the many cuts covering her guest.
“Well you are torn apart. Follow me and I’ll clean you up!’ The mare ruffled the mane of the child, galloping off into the kitchen at top speed and vanishing near the corner.
“Uhhh.”
“C’mon pokey!” Lyra poked her head out of the corner, her ears twitching in place cutely.
Scootaloo took each step slowly into the kitchen, a odd smell wafting from someplace nearby as she lifted a hoof to cover her muzzle. Eyes looking to a loose plank of wood on the floor, a very dull almost black substance covering the edges.
Her attention was pulled back into reality as Lyra lunged out at her from a small bathroom, it was tucked away near the kitchen a single lit candle keeping it in view. Lyra couldn’t help but giggle at the cute filly, watching her back up and curl into a corner after she lunged out.
“Don’t be such a scaredy cat! I come baring health!” Lyra gave a squee holding up a small white rag and a old jar of yellow liquid.
“I’m fine really.” Scootaloo gave a weary giggle as the mare inched close, popping open the jar and dabbing the rag into the odd warm liquid.
“Don’t be silly filly! If you don’t use some of this, you are just asking for trouble.” The mare gave a soft coo, gently dabbing the rag onto the cuts covering the child’s hooves.
Scootaloo winced as her ears folded back, it was warm and stung her many scratches. Yet left a tingling and cool sensation behind, she had to admit it did feel nice after the fact. Standing in place she allowed the mare to gently dab the wounds, a sweet and gentle hum lifting into the air.
“So what made you think this job was right for you?” Lyra broke the soft hymn with a question, eyes locking upon her work and not the child.
“I just like helping other ponies.” Scootaloo gave a reply as her head turned away, looking out a nearby window as the sun began to set outside.
“Oh? Is that so and the bits mean nothing to you?” Lyra gave a firm dab onto a large cut, causing the child to wince slightly.
“I guess it’s good pay…”
“Going to buy a new toy?” She scraped roughly across a bleeding cut.
“No…”
“Eat lots of candy?” The mare pressed her hoof hard against the smaller hoof, the pressure causing the child to fold her ears back.
“Ow…”
“Maybe go out and just get something you don’t need.” Lyra spoke in a stern and harsh tone of voice, sending a shiver down the child’s backside.
“No! I need the bits to help my family!” Scootaloo gave a yelp as she pulled away from the mare, curling up in her corner fighting back a flood of tears.
“Oh!” Lyra bit her lower lip, floating a long stream of bandages across the air that very tenderly wrapped around the child’s hooves.
The mare folding her own ears back and trotting out of the kitchen, leaving the jar open and rag thrown onto the floor. Scootaloo gave a glance down to her freshly bandaged hooves, taking a small moment to gather her thoughts and calm her soul.
“Thud!” “Thud!” “Whack!!”
The filly eased herself into the dining area, the mare sitting on a nearby chair. Her head banging up and down on the oak table, her forehead turning a dull red color as each smack seemed to hit a little bit harder.
“What are you doing?” Scootaloo spoke up in worry, the mare slamming her head down hard on the surface as her whole body went limp.
“Lyra?” She spoke in a shivering tone, her hooves carrying her a bit closer to the mare.
Lyra never gave a movement, her body as still as the dark and cloudless sky outside. Scootaloo extended a hoof to the mare, her tiny touch pressing in on her side for any sign of life.
“Whut!?” Lyra gave a grumble aloud as the child jumped back, her heart racing again as the mare lifted her head up a small stream of blood cascading down in front of her left eye.
“I,,,”
“Bits are right there.” She flaunted a hoof in front of herself, the child glancing to the edge of the table a bag bulging with coins sat alone.
“That looks like more than twenty.”
“It’s five hundred…”
“Why?”
“You need help…”
“Are you ok?”
“I need...yes.”
“You sound sad.”
“Sweetie is gone…”
“What about the party?”
“Gone…”
“I…”
“I’m sorry I told a lie, she left me today...I don’t want to be alone.” Lyra folded her ears back, hiding her muzzle away on the table surface again.
“I won’t leave you.” Scootaloo inched closer to the mare, nuzzling her muzzle on her side tenderly.
“They all leave.”
“I won’t...I promise.”
The mare lifted her head again, eyes weak and broken as if full of a deep internal struggle.Lyra gave a small huff as she lifted up a hoof, the child cuddling in close as she gave the mare a warm hug.
Silence filled the air around them, the night had finally fallen completely. With it bringing the chill of loneliness and the promise of the warmth of friendship, if only Lyra could open her heart and accept it.
A Night In The Never Free.
Scootaloo let her eyes glance up to the hidden sky above, the branches of trees seemed to stretch out like monstrous claws. Hiding away the beauty of this crisp night and instead showering the world below in growing darkness.
Her tiny hooves pressed down on the deep well hoof pump, ice cold water from far within the earth pouring forward. Scootaloo taking a quick hoofful of the lovely water, splashing her face with it while enjoying the cooling effect it had upon her.
Closing her eyes she allowed herself to be carried back home, away from the chill of the woods and the fear of the night. Opening soft violet hues she gazed towards her reflection in a mirror, back at home and alone in the bathroom as the sound of screaming could be heard downstairs.
“Leave her alone!”
“No! Let her see what this sickness brings!”
“Nooo! Just stop!”
The banging of a strong hoof on the door caught her attention, each smash causing the frame to bulge off the hinges. He would be inside soon enough, the door begun to shake uncontrollably before it swung wide open.
“Look at what this evil brought!”
Scootaloo just gave a stare in silence, a stream of warm tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Scoots in a half-shell! We have take off!” Lyra yelled from deep within the cabin, the filly shaking off the haze that was her memories, splashing her face one last time to wash away the tears.
“I’m on my…” Scootaloo couldn’t even find the words to finish, walking inside was a sight to behold indeed.
Fresh apples and oranges in a large bowl, a long silver platter decorated in many sandwiches of all kinds, from lovely oat and hay to the always great PB&J. Bag after bag of candy lined the table, as icy bottles of pop were out in the open to enjoy.
“Just wow!”
“I know right? We need to check if we are still ponies after this, we might just transform into pigs!” Lyra gave a sofft wink as she sat in a odd position on her chair, back to the frame and sitting straight up.
Scootaloo jumped onto her seat, curling her hooves underneath her tiny frame. Eyes filled with wonder as she reached a hoof out and nabbed a PB&J, taking a large bite from its delicious center as jelly rolled down her chin.
“So?”
“Om-nom. Mmm?”
“What trouble is your family in?” Lyra floated a string of small gummies high into the air, having them simply float around her head in a calm manner as if in orbit around a sun.
“I’d rather not say.” Scootaloo popped open a ice cold bottle of pop, taking a small chug from the cherry soda within.
“No fair! I told you about my Sweetie.”
“Well you just told me that she left you.”
“...”
“My mom and her friend are in trouble.” Scootaloo shared just a small bit, with hope the mare would jump off her back.
“Oh! I see.” Lyra gave a small giggle, floating three gummies into her mouth.
The filly just nodded along and took another bite from her sandwich, a sudden smack of a gummy hitting her in the right eye swiftly. Scootaloo winced and gave her eye a soft rub, looking over to the mare who just laughed.
“I see how it is! I’ll share a bit more on the subject, it would only be fair.” Lyra floated a bottle of pop in her magic, carrying it over to her as she broke open the top.
“You don’t…”
“Sweetie was always the odd one. I know right?” She flaunted a hoof over herself.
“...”
“She wasn’t odd in a sense of weird, just had to have things her way. Out in public I was always to act in a certain way, chew with my muzzle closed and sit down not on my backside.”
“I don’t think anything is wrong with the way you sit.”
“Oh you!”
“...”
“Sweetie was just her own mare, she had to be the one in control. When we were out to watch a movie it was her choice, out to eat I went with salad always.”
“Hehe. Salads are pretty good.”
“I BUCKING...I have to admit, I’m not a fan of salads.” Lyra gave a slight twitch to her left ear, calming her mind and flashing a smile.
“...”
“Sweetie always kept control. Why did I let her?”
“I don’t…”
“Because I loved her! Scootabuddy we allow those who hurt us to keep on doing so, because deep inside we know they only do those horrible things out of love.”
“...”
“We will take that pain and mold it into excuse after excuse. Because they know in their souls, what they are doing is wrong and can’t be justified.”
“...”
“So really. We hurt ourselves, we create our own monsters. Because we fuel our own hell with not hate, but love.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. They set the rules, we follow them to the letter! But when push comes to shove, they will always choose to break the rules.”
“I…”
“Sweetie would yell and embarrass me in public, telling those around us I was a slob or a piece of filth. I could never be perfect, I could never be more than...me.”
“Lyra…”
“Then one night. She comes to my work drunk, saying with cider on her breath that it was I who drove her to this fate. Her muzzle stained with vomit and eyes as red as the sun, she cursed my name to all in the world.”
“...”
“She didn’t hold herself well in public, she didn’t keep her muzzle shut when drinking. She acted like a slob and indeed was a piece of filth.”
“...”
“So. I SMACKED THE BUCKING CIDER OUT OF HER! I MEAN IF I FOLLOW THE DAMN RULES, AT LEAST YOU COULD BUCKING DO THE LUNA-BUCKING SAME!” Lyra smashed the bottle across the wall behind her the cherry soda staining the wall a bright crimson.
“I’m so sorry.” Scootaloo folded her ears back in horror, gazing down to the floor in silence.
“As I said it’s only fair. Now Scootabuddy, why don’t you share?”
“But…”
“Tsk.”
“It’s only…”
“Fair. Yes it would be.”Lyra flashed a sly smile, floating a new bottle to herself and cracking it open.
“My mom and her friend are in trouble.”
“Well duh? We’ve already established that, it’s rude to waste a pony's time.” Lyra enchanted a nearby hay sandwich and flew it over to herself swiftly.
“My mom’s friend has been kicked out of her home, she had been caught doing something horrible.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. My mother took her into our home, but her past had followed her.”
“Well?”
“I feel sorry for her, she just wants to be happy. My mother told me that everypony deserves happiness, though some have to fight for it.”
“What followed her?”
“Hate or perhaps love?”
“Knocked upon the door?”
“Smashed it off the wall.” Scootaloo slowly lifted her head, eyes locking onto the mint mare in silence.
Lyra just batted lashes and lifted her food to her mouth, taking a large bite from her meal and chewing it in deep thought. Scootaloo placed her food onto the table, her appetite no longer a problem.
“You are hiding something. Not telling the whole story, but that is fair.” Lyra gave a playful smile, quickly chugging her bottle of soda at top speeds before a loud burp filled the air.
“Sorry.”
“No apologies! A lie for a lie, I did the same to you.” Lyra just shook her head and tossed the half eaten meal atop her plate, her hooves dancing across the old wooden surface.
Scootaloo could only watch as the mare lunged off her seat, cantering happily over to the front door and swinging it open proudly. The cold wind of the night gusting forward, Lyra sighing as her mane flowed back and her body shivered.
“Let’s go!”
“Where?”
“Monster hunting!” Lyra could barely hold back a squee, her eyes filled with enchantment and something else.
Something darker.
A Night In The Never Free.
“Brrr.” Scootaloo couldn’t stop her delicate frame from shivering, hooves were like jelly from the long hike deep into the darkness of The Everfree.
Teeth would chatter as she could see Lyra skipping ahead of her a light bounce in her step, a sing-song melody escaping her muzzle loudly filling the silence around them. Scootaloo felt sick to her stomach right now, her mind wondering if that black shadow was still watching her.
Though at this moment in her life now, it would not be the biggest thing she was frightened of. The mare began a quick paced canter, her hooves picking up speed as it forced the filly into a sudden gallop.
“Please! Come back!” Scootaloo yelled into the darkness.
“I’m scared.” The filly folded her ears downward in shame, her eyes watching the floor in fear of the unknown.
“Nothing to be scared of honey.” Her Aunt Holiday spoke up as she sat in a dark corner, her frame hidden behind a cloak of the abyss.
“Things just happen. What is important is that we pull ahead.” Aunt Lofty gave a reassuring smile, features blocked out in a haze as her voice was so smooth.
“But what if…” Scootaloo held back tears.
“Nothing bad will ever happen, I won’t allow it! You don’t need to live in fear!” Holiday spoke up as she trotted out of the shadows, her right eye swollen shut and blackened.
“Holly…”
“Scootaloo. You are perfectly fine, I swear to you that you are nothing less than wonderful.” Holiday stood beside the child, eyes gazing down upon her with a sense of tenderness.
“I’m afraid…”
“We’ll never judge you.” Her aunt leaned in for a hug, whispering those words she yearned to hear.
“Please don’t run away from me.” Scootaloo felt her small body collapse into the cold damp dirt, her violet hues gazing forward to the darkness ahead of her the tone of Lyra completely gone.
The dark would creep up on the child, she could only curl into a small ball for protection. Those bleak and hate filled eyes were watching her, the pony of the abyss never understanding it’s prey, only wanting to tear apart the light.
Perhaps she deserved the hunt to end, to be outed by the monster and swallowed by the fear that gripped her heart so tight. She could hear its hoofsteps come ever closer, hiding her muzzle behind small hooves. She tensed her body and winced in place, ready for the end at long last.
Hooves came to a complete stop, standing high above her wickedly. Breathing so shallow and dark, ready to lunge forward and drag the child to her own personal hell. A firm hoof that offered no mercy stroked through her mane, a touch that only held lies and hidden hate.
“Why are you scared?” Lyra spoke up, her dull colored eyes watching her shiver upon the ground.
“I’m not afraid, only tired.”
“Tsk. You only have one lie, anymore than that is breaking the rules.”
“Where are we going?”Scootaloo spoke in a muffled tone, her tiny face buried into her hooves hidden away from the world.
“We are here to run from the monsters, can you hear them?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you stop?”
“I deserve to be found.”
“To be found now, is to be lost.”
“I know.”
“Would you rather just run?”
“It’s too dark.” Scootaloo began to sob.
“It is quite bleak.”
“...”
“Share with me friend, why you seek the end?”
“I’ve seen love, destroyed by hate.”
“This love you share?”
“I don’t want this fate.”
“The monsters are here.”Lyra could only sigh as she galloped ahead into the abyss, hidden away from the world once more.
“...”
“Run! The dark can only last till the dawn!” Lyra’s voice wafted across the air, faint and quickly fading.
“Run? Face the dark, face it until it was gone.” Scootaloo lifted her face to the nothingness, gritting her teeth she lunged into the twisted woods.
Running with no fear in her eyes, breathing wild and hooves on fire. Facing head on the monster that gave chase, giving it no chance to attack as soon all would fade away. A pale blue light suddenly burst into view, a large opening in the middle of this nightmare was filled with beauty so bright.
The child slid to a stop in the opening, Lyra gasping for breath near a old rotting tree. Scootaloo let her gaze rise, the trees were spread out neatly in this one place. The sky not hidden away but shone for all to see, the stars lit the sky elegantly as the moon was ever so bright.
Violet eyes soaked in the majesty that was before her, soul calming down deep within her body. Such a light deep within the abyss, where nothing beautiful could survive. Gave her hope that even in the worst places, beauty could still form and flourish and that light never truly died.
Nopony was beyond the light, we might find ourselves lost though never forgotten.Lyra slowly pushed towards the child, the silence building once more between them. The night was more than half over now, the mare lifting her gaze to the sky as well with a look of confusion.
“What are you looking at buddy?” Lyra searched for anything of interest above, seeing only a dull and bleak sky full of emptiness.
“The light.”
“You see a light?”
“Don’t you? The stars are dancing and the moon is glowing.” Scootaloo could not help but giggle softly, eyes full of enchantment.
“Ah.” Lyra simply watched the skyline, all beauty was gone from the world.
“Lyra.”
“Hmmm?”Lyra gave a soft silent huff in reply, she felt her heart shattering as no longer could she see the light.
“Thank you for showing me this.”
“You’re welcome.” The mare held back the sorrow, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
The time had come, she could no longer see the light.
She had to finish what she began, the night was ready to end.
Placing a soft hoof onto the child's shoulder, they watched the sky for a few more moments. The monsters that haunted them both fading in and out of the world, some coming into light while others faded away into the abyss.
“Time to go home.”
“Why?”
“I have something to show you.”
“What?”
“My secret.”
