The Return of Loyalty

Scootaloo sat under a dead tree.

There was one thing she always brought with her whenever she camped out; her grey cloak. It was to help conceal her identity. Scootaloo chose the cloak and because she believed passersby might pity her, and even pity was a rare thing to find these days. She carried an empty saddlebag, and groaned whenever she looked at it. Scootaloo had eaten the last of her provisions, and they weren’t enough to begin with. Just bread crumbs and nuts. She couldn’t remember the last time she seen food. The days in Equestria were dark and cold, and the nights were even worse. Scootaloo wandered the trail for days and days - or was it weeks or months - with no sign of anything.

The dead tree was curved, bent over like an elderly pony whose body couldn’t handle the pressure. The grass was brown and lifeless. Scootaloo adjusted his cloak to keep warm. The wind was much harsher than when she used to remember.

She turned to see someone on the road. The little pegasus grew anxious, then pretended to not see whoever they were, and hid behind the tree. She prayed the pony on the road hadn’t caught a glimpse of her.

The pony was closer to her way. Scootaloo took a peak from her cloak, seeing what looked like a young mare in peasants clothing from head to hoof. She searched the ground and found a rock near her hind quarters. Scootaloo looked back at the unknown traveler, unsure of what to do. Slowly, she grabbed the rock. She’ll use it if she had to, although she never thought every moment in her life will lead to this. Maybe she should have guessed it, after everything that has happened.

Scootaloo’s world crumbled in pieces at this point. No matter what happened, she hoped some higher power will forgive her. She seen her home consumed by evil, everything and everyone she loved taken from her. And yet she managed to escape the iron grip of the Queen of Misery. What if this pony was one of her agents? She held a firm grasp on the rock.

The traveler stopped, exactly a few inches near Scootaloo’s hiding spot. Fear of being caught kept the pegasus from moving, even whimpering. The nameless pony stood in place. The cold wind whistled in the melancholy air.

“Will you please help a weary traveler like me?” the peasant asked.

Scootaloo remained silent. She hoped whoever it was wouldn’t take another step forward. “Please, I’m terribly lost, and since the world became so dark I don’t know where I’m going. Can you please show me the way?” the peasant said sweetly.

What is she doing, Scootaloo wondered. Is this another one of her tricks? Why would she come all the way from Canterlot to find her in the middle of nowhere? An eerie breeze passed between them.
“I know there’s someone here,” the pony said. There was no emotion present in her voice. “I can feel your presence.”

Scootaloo slowly stepped away from the tree, although she still held the rock just in case. “Please don’t hurt me,” she said. She looked at the pony who spoke to her. Like her voice, her face held no expression. “I don’t know what you want, but I’ll… I really don’t want to use this rock,” Scootaloo stammered.

“Why do you run from me?” said the mare.

Scootaloo’s hoof shook. She whimpered, a chilling sensation crawled through the back of her soul. All she wanted to do was to jump from behind the tree and beat that mare with the rock, but she knew she couldn’t do it. “Please leave me alone,” she begged.

The next thing she realized the peasant was gone. The area around here became much darker and sinister than before. Shadows sprouted from the ground and formed the shape of a pony. Scootaloo knew she was right that this was one of the Queen of Misery’s agents. The evil ruler will never remove herself from her throne in Canterlot to only chase her. She had to send someone.

Someone like Diamond Tiara.

“Scootaloo. What a pleasant surprise,” she said. It wasn’t the usually greeting Tiara gave whenever she sees Scootaloo. Beneath her regular voice was an otherworldly and fiendish voice, and hearing it made the pegasus feel a chill inside her.

There was never a time in her life Scootaloo thought Diamond Tiara herself would side with evil. Of course she was her bully and tormentor at school, but to pledge her allegiance to an evil being; one who destroyed everything Celestia and Luna stood for… that was unthinkable. “Come home, Scootaloo.”

“Why are you doing this?” asked Scootaloo.

“Mother doesn’t like it when her children run away. And you’ve been running away a whole lot. She’s really irritated.”

“I’m not her child, and neither are you! None of us are! She’s brainwashed everyone to submit to her!”

“Mother taught us that friendship and harmony are lies. Pain, suffering, misery, hopelessness - those are the true values we should really hold dear,” said Tiara sincerely.

“Diamond Tiara, I know you better than anyone else! You always thought you were better than everybody else! You rejected the rules and made up your own - how could you let someone like Golgotha mess up your mind?”

“She made me see the error of my ways. I was trying to make myself happy when happiness is just an illusion. Misery is true pleasure, and I intend to spread that misery everywhere I go!” she said happily.

“No wonder Golgotha likes you so much. You’re her pet!” spat Scootaloo.

“Oh Scootaloo, poor Scootaloo. Defiant as always. Mother will surely fix that.”

Diamond Tiara reached out her hoof. Her limb turned dark and murky, and Scootaloo knew what was happening. Those who willingly submit themselves to Queen Golgotha became possessed with shadow demons. Scootaloo tried to run but the black mists caught her by the hind quarters. She looked back to see Diamond Tiara with a wide grin that reached all the way to her ears. Her eyes glowed sickly yellow. The shadows consumed Scootaloo, then they spat her out into a dark hall.

She lifted her oranged face from the cold hard floor. Although a thick blackness surrounded her, she did recognize some parts of where new location. It used to be the throne room of Canterlot Castle, where even Princess Celestia’s presence gave light.

A black swirling mass manifested, causing her to have a fit of panic. This was her. Queen Golgotha, Lady of Misery. The skies were dark because of her. The obliteration of harmony and friendship her doing. The fall of the Princesses, the defeat of the Elements of Harmony; by Golgotha’s very hooves. The unicorns lost their magic, pegasi can fly no longer, and the earth ponies lost their strength and will. The shadows became a solid black robe. It grew tall and menacing, and on her head materialized a crown of devil horns. Her face was pale as death, her eyes green like poison, and she gave a sinister smile at the pathetic pegasus. Queen Golgotha and Scootaloo were surrounded by children with similar freakish smiles and glowing eyes. All the color was sucked out of them.

“The prodigal pegasus; always running, always hiding, yet always found,” she said.

“Welcome home, Scootaloo,” the children said.

“This is not my home. You’re not my mother!”

Queen Golgotha inspected Scootaloo closely. This was a strong mind indeed. Not even the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, wouldn’t submit to her easily. She considered delivering the same fate the unicorn suffered, but she wouldn’t dream of harming any of her little children. This one needed some motherly love.

“You have a strong mind, I can tell. You can’t be broken at a whim. You must have endured so much during your lifetime.”

“You better believe it,” replied Scootaloo.

Golgotha gazed at the filly’s eyes. Yes, she can see the defiance in them. But there was something more behind them. The wicked queen had a feeling for what it was.

“You are waiting for something to happen. You’re waiting for… someone?”

Scootaloo suddenly looked away for a moment, which gave Golgotha the right answer. “I still hold on to the hope that you’ll wake up from this nightmare, that whoever you’re waiting for will come to your rescue. You must see that having hope and faith is foolish. Optimism will only lead to disappointment. The promise of oblivion is true harmony.”

“Rainbow Dash will come back, and you will pay for everything you’ve done!”

“And what power does this Rainbow Dash have over me?” taunted Golgotha.

“All the power in the world, even more! She gave her friends her cutie marks with her sonic rainboom, and she’s the Element of Loyalty!”

“Oh… right. The Elements. A fairy tale. I have much better stories to tell you, my child.”

“Stop calling that,” the filly muttered.

“Very well, then. As much as it pains me to do so, if you won’t listen to your mother then I must punish you.” She called for her demented children. Scootaloo couldn’t get over that many of them used to be her friends. “My dear children, what should be a fitting punishment for young Scootaloo?”

All the children gave suggestions. Some wanted Golgotha to turn her into a newt. Others wanted buttons sewed to her eye sockets. A boy wanted her to walk on a floor full of broken glass. A girl thought the most fitting punishment was for everyone to pelt her with rocks. These were all clever suggestions to Golgotha, but nothing that will make the pegasus see the futility of hope. A shadow crawled out of the black void and whispered to her.

Golgotha’s eyes glowed when she stared down at Scootaloo. “For being disobedient to your mother, your punishment will be to join the adults! You will live in a world filled with nightmares beyond your imagination, until you learn how much your mother loves you!”

Shadows attached themselves to Scootaloo’s limbs. She was pulled toward the ground, being pulled through the emptiness spaces between empty spaces, an ocean of nothingness. She landed on the ground, believing for a moment she only had a terrible dream.

Unfortunately for her, the real nightmare was just beginning.

Ponies everywhere - crying, screaming, thrashing. Creatures that only existed in the imagination of some sick, twisted individual ruled the skies and chased whoever in their path. Fire fell from the red sky above, A tornado made of animals crashed through towers, houses, and farms. Every natural disaster happened at once, every terrible thing a pony could think of became reality.

For the first time, Scootaloo actually believed there was no hope.