Starcraft: The Fate of the Artifact

Chapter 3: The Value of Commitment

Equestria: Approximate time until Raynor’s Arrival:

5 days: 10 hours

Scootaloo’s mind was once again an empty, dark void. The difference was that now, she was in control of her thoughts. And thank Celestia that she was; otherwise she might have gone insane. Now, Scoots was concentrating on the most recent events. That creature Nyon, said that it was her temporary duty to guard that blue thing. But how? She was still just a filly; she could barely fly, let alone actually fight! Sure, she was the strongest out of her friends, but if she had to fight those Terran? She wouldn’t last for a minute. As she tried harder to focus on a way to protect the artifact, she could hear a voice calling for her from across the void.

As she opened her eyes, her vision was still hazy. She could barely make out where she was.  She could hear some ponies talking, but she couldn’t make out any words. She detected the heavy odor of disinfectants; it felt like being smothered by a mattress. A horrible thought crossed her mind.

“Am I dead?” She thought to herself with fear. That thought vanished as soon as it emerged when she felt the fluffy cotton mattress of a bed beneath her body.  As she tried to bring her eyes back into focus, she noticed bright white walls. The kind one normally finds at a hospital. She realized that somepony was staring right at her face. It was Rainbow dash, her face still wracked with confusion and worry. As she noticed that her friend was awake, she let out a long-held sigh of relief, the pain on her face slowly fading away.

“Wow, squirt, you had me worried for a second there.” Dash said in a truly gratified tone. “But it’s good to know that you’re okay.” Scootaloo nodded and tried to stretch her legs and wings. She was surprised to find that she wasn’t injured. As Scoots looked around the room, she saw several other faces. Applebloom, Sweetie, and Twilight and even Spike. But Zecora was missing.

“Where’s Zecora? Where am I? What happened?” Scoots asked while trying to shake the grogginess out of her head. Twilight spoke up to answer her questions.

“You are currently in Ponyville Hospital. You have been unconscious for almost a day. And don’t worry about Zecora, she was perfectly healthy last time we saw her.” Twilight’s voice turned somber. “Rainbow was worried sick about you. She flew you all the way here from the middle of the Everfree forest.” As she said this, she turned her head towards Rainbow, who was blushing a bright scarlet and looking down at the floor.

“Ahm so glad you’re okay, Scootaloo! Ah thought for SURE that somethin’ bad had happened to ya’.” Applebloom chimed. “Can ya tell us what happened when you touched that thing? What happened to ya? You were just fine, and then ya went all limp an’ stuff. Ya nearly scarred us to death!” Everypony in the room leaned towards Scootaloo, waiting for her reply. Scoots ran her options through her head, should she tell them everything? She decided to fill them in on everything except that strange battle where all the Protoss died. She still wasn't sure what had happened, and she didn't want to answer a lot of questions. She sat upright, and began her story.

"Well, at first I woke up in this dark space. There was nothing but darkness all around, and it seemed to go on forever. Then I turned around and there were these BIG, glowing, red eyes!" She waved her arms to emphasize her point. "It was scary. Scarier than that cockatrice in the forest. So, I ran away from it. But it always seemed to be right behind me. Eventually, it went away, and I was all alone again. Then there was this bright flash of light, and I ended up in a weird room." Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"How was it strange?" All the ponies grew even more interested with the child's vision.

"Well, it was all white. Even more white than Rarity's fur, but not as bright. There was this cool fog-thing that floated on the ground and ceiling. Then this strange thing showed up!" As expected, everypony gasped, but Scootaloo continued anyway. "It was tall, with back legs kinda like ours, in a way. But his had toes like Spike. Its skin was also kinda scaly like Spike, and there was this thing sticking out of the back of its head. It was freaky in every sense of the word. He also had a face with only two eyes. No mouth, no nose, no ears, or anything. I was just looking back at it when... He spoke to me."

"How did it talk without a mouth? That can't work. You need a mouth to say things, and eat! How can something live without a mouth?!" Sweetie turned and shook Twilight for an answer, but the librarian had none to share.

"Anyway, It said it's name was Nyon, and that it was from a race of creatures called The Protoss." He said that the ship that crashed and the blue rock belonged to them, and that they were coming here to get it back. He also told me to protect it."

"Protect it? From what?" Rainbow Dash asked the filly with her usual cockiness. "Whatever it is, I'll take 'em out in a flash!" Scoots glowed with joy that her mentor was sticking up for her, and quickly returned to her tale.

"Nyon told me to protect it from "Terran thieves." I didn't know what that meant, but then her showed me a vision. He showed the protoss guarding an artifact similar to the one back in the forest. They were just minding their own business, when these Terran guys showed up and killed them all!" She then began recounting how the Protoss fought bravely to defend the blue rock; and how the Terran aliens stole it anyway. She quickly wrapped up her descriptions, as she noticed that the gore was making Sweetie Belle nauseous. “And that’s what happened.” Scoots said as she wrapped up her story. “But where’s Zecora? Is she okay?” Scoots asked, mentally hitting herself for forgetting about her so quickly.

“Zecora is just fine. We told her to make sure that nopony else goes to the impact site, so she should still be standing guard near the entrance.” Twilight replied. “We have yet to decide on what to do with the artifact, but we are sure that—”. Nurse Redheart cut her off as she walked into the hospital room. She was a white pony with a red cross as her cute mark.

“Well now, Scootaloo.” The nurse said, looking down at her note board. “I have good news, and better news.” This instantly perked Scoots up, along with everypony else in the room. “The first good news is: you seem to be fine, no broken bones or bruises. You can go home today.” Everypony cheered in happiness for their little friend. Especially Rainbow Dash, who was doing loops in the air of the tiny hospital room.

“What’s the other good news?” Scootaloo asked, leaning forward in her cushy hospital bed. What could be better than being able to leave the hospital?

“The better news is: it looks like you earned your cutie mark!!” The nurse proclaimed joyously.

At the sound of those words, everypony froze. Rainbow crashed onto the floor, Spike fell off of Twilights back, and Applebloom and Sweeties jaws both almost hit the floor. Scottaloo, however, jumped off of the bed screaming with copious amounts of joy.

“WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!! I’ve done it! I finally earned my cutie mark! This is the greatest day EVER! OH! What does it look like? What does it look like?” As she spun around in a circle, trying to get a view of her flank, she stopped. And her mouth gaped in disbelief of the symbol that now took residence on her flank. Everypony (Except the nurse, who had seen it already) gasped in both shock and confusion.

“What in the hay is this thing?” Scootaloo asked angrily. She had hoped her cutie mark would be something awesome. Like a… um…  well, she couldn’t think of anything cool, but this wasn’t it! It just looked like three commas swirling around each other! “This is the worst day ever.” Scoots sat back down on her haunches in the hospital bed, pouting and folding her forelegs across her chest. “What does this thing even mean?” Nopony had any idea what this symbol meant.

“That’s strange.” Twilight commented. Usually when a pony gets their cutie mark, they have a clear sense of what their special talent is! But, Scootaloo, the only thing you did is—” Sweetie quickly butted in.

“Maybe your special talent has something to do with that rock you touched at the crater! What do you think Twilight?” Sweetie asked with curiosity only seen from her when cutie marks where concerned.

“As I was about to say, it is a possibility.” Twilight confirmed. “But this is still a dangerous object. If just touching it caused Scootaloo here to faint, it could be dangerous to even go near it.” Twilight furrowed her brow in thought. “I know!” She finally exclaimed with gusto. “Why don’t we tell the princess about this? I’m sure she’ll know what to do!” It seemed like whenever anything happened in Ponyville, Twilight wanted to inform Celestia. Even though she was more than capable of handling this situation.

“That’s a great idea Twilight.” Spike added, pulling a quill and a scroll from Twilights saddlebag. “What should we say?” Twilight was about to respond when the Nurse cut her off again.

“I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over. Now give Scootaloo here some time to get ready, and she’ll be with you again shortly.” As everypony filed out of the room, it gave Scoots some more time to think of her cutie mark. Where had she seen this symbol before? It looked eerily familiar, yet at the same time it was like nothing they had seen before. Suddenly the memory came rushing back to her. This symbol was on members of the Tal’Darim’s clothing: as well as their strange flying ships. It must be their coat-of-arms.

What Nyon said was becoming more and more likely every minute. As Scoots exited the hospital, she made up her mind. She was going to go right back to that artifact, and make sure that nopony else touched it. But first she had to go to the orphanage and get her scooter. At the realization that she still had to go back there, her head drooped in sorrow. The orphanage wasn’t exactly the nicest place in Ponyville. And she usually did everything in her power to stay away from it. With an audible sigh, she started sneaking towards the building.

Inside the orphanage:

Twilight had gathered all of her friends, as well as Applebloom and Sweetie Bell to the orphanage to discuss what they were going to do about the artifact. They were waiting in the lobby for Scootaloo to get back from the hospital. Twilight had briefed all of them on what she intended to tell Celestia: as she didn’t send the letter yet.

“Twilight, darling I know you said this was urgent and everything, but do we honestly have be in this filthy orphanage?” Rarity disliked everything about the orphanage. It was dirty, it was in dire need of repairs: and worst of all, it seemed like the caretaker, Mrs. Powell didn’t even care about the children. She reminded Rarity of the orphanage caretaker from that play she saw in Canterlot. What was it called? Little orphan…. Somepony? Oh well, it didn’t matter. Rarity would have to come back here sometime and fix this entire building up!

“I understand your concern, Rarity. But we have to think about Scootaloo’s feelings above all else in this matter. It seems like the artifact chose her, so she should decide on what to do.” Twilight assured her friend. “And we all need to be here to help her with this decision.”

“I know what we can do!” Pinkie shouted excitedly. “We should throw her a party! She just got her cutie mark, right? That is a super-special event for ANYPONY!” Pinkie gasped. “And we can bake the cake to look like her cutie mark! And we can hold the party right here! It will be—” Mrs. Powell cut her off.

“NO. There will be no parties in this building.” She said with a scowl. Her glare was so sharp that it seemed to cut into Pinkies heart! “Its hard enough for me to keep of all these brats under control.  And now you want to give them all a party?” She took a long drag from her cigarette. “Not on my watch. Now, if you keep talking about parties, I’m going to kick you out.” Pinkies eyes looked like they were about to burst with tears. How could somepony who runs a shelter for unfortunate fillies and colts be so cruel? Fluttershy put her hoof around her friend’s neck and gave her a reassuring hug.  Mrs. Powell then slunk over to her desk and began sorting papers again. The group was about to start talking again when there was a sharp knock on the door.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake!” Mrs. Powell grumbled with frustration as she made her way from behind her desk to the door. Who could possibly be here at this time of day? When she pulled open the door, standing there with a package by her hooves was none other than Ditzy Doo, the local mailmare.

“Um, is Mrs. Powell her? This is for her.” She paused for a moment, closing her eyes in frustration. “This is the orphanage right? The people at the last building I went to were kinda angry at me.” She asked with a worried expression on her face.

“I AM Mrs. Powell, you wall eyed FREAK!” She yelled, taking the package from Ditzy and slamming the door in her face.  The ponies in the lobby just stared at her in utter shock with what they had just witnessed. For a split second, Rainbow thought she saw a smirk on Mrs. Powell’s face.

“How dare you!” Rainbow yelled, flying right up to Mrs. Powell’s face. Her own face was twisted with uncontrollable blind fury. Scootaloo never talked about her life at the orphanage much, and now Rainbow could see why. She couldn’t believe that somepony so heartless was in charge of looking after her little friend.  “Nopony treats Derpy like that and gets away with it!” If it hadn’t been for Twilight holding her back with her magic, Rainbow probably would have killed the cruel earth pony right then and there.

“Oh, so you actually care about the mentally challenged little nobody?” She taunted Rainbow with a snarky laugh. “First you fill up my lobby with your annoying presence, then you talk about making these brats happy, and now, you’re telling me how to live my life? All of you, get out of my building before I call the police.” She pointed toward the door and gave a look of pure hatred to the group.

Twilight let go of Rainbow Dash, who then quickly flew outside to comfort her fellow Pegasus friend. Everypony else quickly followed suite. As they left the building of dread, they saw Ditzy sobbing on the plaza in front of the orphanage, with Rainbow stroking her mane and offering some words of encouragement. Defeated in their attempt to make Scootaloo a party, they all went their separate ways; Twilight went back to the library with Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie went back to their respective homes. Applebloom and Sweetie, however, managed to get away from their older sisters under the premise that they were going to play together some more. They now sat on the steps of the orphanage, trying to figure out how they could help their friend.

“We cant just let Scootaloo come back to this place without anypony to comfort her!” Sweetie said, worried about her friends living conditions.

“Ah feel sorry for her too, Sweetie bell. But what are we gonna do about it?”

“Lets wait for her inside of her room. That way, when she gets back, we can talk to her about this whole artifact thing.” Sweetie suggested with a look of pure determination. The Cutie Mark Crusaders stuck together, no matter what. And this was the first time that Scootaloo needed help; they couldn’t just let her handle this on her own.

“Ah guess that could work, if we could sneak into her room without that evil Mrs. Powell seein us, then we could just wait for her to get back!” And so, having finished their plan, they went back to make sure that Ditzy Doo was all right. After Rainbow left, they waved goodbye to the mailmare and went behind the orphanage to start their first plan.

It took Scoots much longer to get to the orphanage than normal. (About 40 minutes actually) After all, she couldn’t afford to let anypony see her cutie mark. How could she possibly explain what this symbol meant? She couldn’t. There was absolutely no way to describe what her special talent was without bringing the artifact into the conversation. And since it was her destiny, the fewer ponies knew about it, the easier it would be to defend it. Unfortunately, as she was about to make the home stretch to the orphanage, Murphy’s Law kicked her (metaphorically) in the face. Murphy’s law dictates that if something CAN go wrong, it will. Often in the worst way possible too.

“Hi Scoots!” A grey Pegasus with a blonde mane called out from across the street. “Whatcha’ up to?” Her voice was so carefree it got annoying sometimes.

“Ditzy! What are you doing? Your gonna blow my cover!” Scoots called back to her from behind the box she was using to hide. Ditzy doo looked around the plaza in front of the orphanage, but there wasn’t a single pony around.

“What cover? There isn’t anypony here. Even I can see that.” Ditzy replied, puffing her chest out in pride of her observation. Her eyes were always looking in different directions. It was a condition she had ever since she was a filly. It interfered with her depth perception, but she still somehow managed to get a job as the mailmare. Because of her eyes, many ponies called her “derpy”.  At first it was weird, but she grew used to the nickname. She even thought it was sort of clever! Scootaloo was one of the few ponies that still used her given name.

After Scoots realized that there really was nopony else around, she deemed it safe to get her scooter back. As she galloped to the Orphanage’s shed, she heard Ditzy gasp in shock. “Oh no.” Scoots cursed her self for being so careless, now she would have to explain her cutie mark to Ditzy! And she could never keep her mouth shut about things like this. As she grabbed her scooter, she turned back towards her wall-eyed neighbor.

“I just remembered!” Ditzy shouted. “I was supposed to pick up some muffins from Sugar Cube Corner! I hope they still have some left.” Her face was full of worry, but it quickly faded back to her normal happy smile. “See ya, Scoots!” With that, she took off to get her muffins.

“I’m glad that’s over with!” Scoots said with a sigh of relief. She then attached the small wagon to the back of her scooter. While she was rushing, she forgot to put on her helmet. She couldn’t be bothered by any more minor details such as safety protocol. Each minute she stalled here is one more chance that something could damage the artifact. “Now, its time to get that artifact back!” Scootaloo reared up on her scooter, and dashed off to the Everfree Forest.

Later, at the edge of the Everfree Forest:

Scootaloo had managed to get to the edge without anypony seeing her.  She stopped for a rest behind a bush near the entrance. She knew that she wouldn’t have much time left to get the artifact and get out before it was dark. Zecora was still standing guard at the entrance. And she couldn’t let her know about her plan either. She would just send her back to Twilight! And then Twilight would tell the princesses, and then Scootaloo would never be able to protect the artifact! She had to think of a plan. As she was contemplating her next course of action, she heard Zecora talking aloud.

“It seems that soon, the sun will set. And I will no longer need to fret. Into this forest, nopony will tread. For in the dark, they would end up dead. I think it is now safe to say, that no more ponies will come this way.” As she turned around to leave, she detected Scootaloo’s presence and spoke to her. “Scootaloo, you must not fear, for the artifact which you hold dear.” At this Scootaloo froze and her eyes widened in fear. How did Zecora know she would come back there? How could she even see her from behind this bush?

“If into the forest you still wish to go, I will not bother saying no. Because your desire burns so bright, to stop you here would not be right. Just make sure, my little friend, that you do not meet a nasty end.” Zecora then trotted into the forest. Leaving a very determined Scootaloo alone with precious little time to get the artifact before nightfall.

Back at the orphanage:

Sweetie Bell and Applebloom managed to sneak into Scootaloo’s room in the orphanage. It wasn’t easy though; nothing ever is for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Their first attempt ended in failure when they tried to sneak in through the second story window by climbing the tree next to it: and the branch broke under their weight. The second attempt was using a disguise. Which failed when the expertly (poorly) made outfit got stuck on the door handle, and started to tear. After a long string of failures they finally made it in by having another orphan distract Mrs. Powell long enough for the two of them to make it to the third floor, and into Scootaloo’s room.

“Okay, Applebloom, we made it. Now what?” They two of them looked around the room, but it was incredibly bare. There was literally nothing in the small room but a bed that, compared to the rest of the orphanage, was in surprisingly good condition. Maybe Scoots washed the sheets regularly? Other than that, and one Daring doo book, 4 crayons, some paper, a small desk, one chair, a bedside lamp (which was the only source of light in the room) and enough cobwebs and dust bunnies to kill a vacuum cleaner; there was nothing to keep them occupied until Scootaloo returned.

“Wanna play Tic-tac-to?” Applebloom asked her young friend.

Inside the Everfree forest:

Scootaloo had been rushing through the undergrowth for almost thirty minutes now. Despite her being able to move faster on her scooter, lugging around the wagon through the bushes was not easy. And the only way to get to the impact site was through very dense shrubbery. As she was making a sharp turn on her scooter, the wagon caught a rock, and Scootaloo was sent flying head first into a tree. Her head was exploding with pain that coursed through her entire body.  As she cried out in agony, the world turned white and hazy. As she held her head to stop the throbbing, she noticed how close she was to the impact site. She managed to shake off the pain in her skull for now. The artifact is too important to just sit around here crying to her self. With newfound determination, she got her scooter and wagon set up again, and sped off to the artifact.

When she arrived at the site, it was exactly the same as when they had left it. Although the ship was no longer on fire, the artifact was still lying on the bottom on the crater. Scootaloo was about to jump down the crater again when she realized something dreadful. She was going to have to bring the wagon down, and then haul the artifact back up! As she sighed with exasperation, she detached the wagon from the scooter, and a foolish thought crossed her mind, accompanied by an immature smile.

Perhaps the earlier trauma to the head she had received was impairing her thought process, but Scootaloo brought the wagon over to the edge of the crater’s slope and hopped in. The only thought that came across her mind before she preformed this daredevil act was….

“This is gonna be awesome.”

With that, she pushed the wagon towards the edge of the crater, and went careening down the slope at a speed that would have put Rainbow dash to shame. Scootaloo was hollering and having the time of her life. She loved the feel of the wind in her mane from going fast on her scooter because it was the closest thing to flying that the little filly could manage. But unfortunately, she soon realized a crucial error she made as the ship came closer and closer. “I can’t stop this thing.” Before her wagon crashed into the ship, Scootaloo jumped out of the wagon, using her little wings to try and decrease her momentum to avoid crashing into the ship.

But it wasn’t enough, as she tumbled head over heels to the bottom of the crater, she grazed a piece of shrapnel with her face, leaving a deep cut on her cheek. As she shrieked in pain, trying to apply pressure to the wound on her face, she saw her wagon. Despite the chance that it had crashed to the ship, or been broken beyond repair, it was just lying in the dirt, on its side, next to the artifact. Before she could breath a sigh of relief, she made sure to check the side of the ship. Sure enough, on the carriers hull was the same symbol on her flank. This truly was her destiny. As she gazed at the artifact, she could feel its sacred powers. Scootaloo knew that she was the only protection that this artifact had. “Don’t worry Nyon. I will never give up the artifact. I will guard it with my life.” She spoke to the artifact, and as she did, it began shining brightly. As if to say, “take me away from here”.

Still holding one hoof down on her cheek laceration, Scootaloo began slowly reaching for the artifact, hesitating at the thought of having another episode like before. But, as she touched it with her hoof, nothing happened. With another sigh of relief, she loaded the artifact into the wagon, and began the slow ascent to the top of the crater. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her head, and the blood trickling down her muzzle. As she slowly pushed the wagon to the top, she heard a thunderclap, long and booming across the forest.

“Oh please don’t tell me what I think it—” she was cut off by the sudden downpour of rain.  Her spirit weakened by the rain, she still continued the upward climb. As she continued the climb at less than a snails pace, the dirt began to get muddy. The things that might happen if she slipped on the mud flooded her mind. She quickly erased those thoughts from her brain. There was no time to think about what COULD happen. She needed to bring the artifact to the safety of Ponyville, and a little mud, or a cut on her cheek would never be enough to stop her.

Though the mud was a hindrance, and her energy was slowly draining, she made it to the top. Panting with exhaustion, Scootaloo allowed herself a moments rest before she started the long trek back toward Ponyville. While resting, she attempted to formulate a plan. She needed to get to her room without Mrs. Powell seeing her. She thought about using the branch to climb through the second story window. But that though proved futile, as the branch could barely support her weight, let alone the weight of this artifact. After a minute of thinking in the rain, she saw a wicked bolt of lightning strike a tree in the distance; effectively reminding her that the forest was not the best place to be in a lightning storm outside. Connecting the wagon and her precious rock to her scooter, she rode back towards Ponyville. She hoped that this would be an easy trip, but unfortunately, the universe was not kind to her that day.

She drove through the undergrowth with all her might, desperate to ensure the artifacts safety. It was raining more fiercely than before. The large drops of water fell like boulders onto the dirt path, making it so swampy at some parts that her wagon got stuck in the mud. But this did not stop her, nothing would. The burning desire to protect this relic was so fierce that it almost made the rain steam off of Scootaloo’s body.

It seemed that the universe wanted to test Scootaloo’s endurance and willpower that night: because as she was making a sharp turn on the path, her wagon caught on a root that had been uncovered by the torrential rain. Causing Scootaloo to lose control, propelling her small body through the air. She did not crash into a tree this time, instead she was only flung into the center of the path. After rolling to a stop in the mud, she looked for the artifact, and saw it was still inside the wagon, and that her scooter had not broken. She exhaled a sigh of relief, noticing how close to the exit she was. But as she began to get up, she saw a bolt of lightning hit a tree right next to her.

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, her mind was racing; adrenaline was coursing through her body. She heard the telltale snapping sounds of the tree falling down. Scootaloo rose to her hooves as quickly as she could, and tried to run out of the path of the tree. But before she could make it more than a few feet, Scootaloo found her self trapped underneath the tangled, splintered mess of branches. The tree imprisoned her, like a bear caught in a trap. Luckily, she was not crushed by the tree’s mighty trunk. But at that moment, she wished she had been. For when she turned her head to check her body for injuries, she saw a small sharp branch was pierced through her right wing.

She tried to stand up, but that only brought more pain. The branch inside her wing was no longer connected to the tree; it had broken off as the tree fell. Scootaloo needed to get out of this mess of sticks, to get back to the artifact. But she could barely move, let alone ride her scooter back to town. As she tried to push the broken branches and sticks out of her way to make a path, the branch stuck through her wing briefly snagged on one of the branches above her. Sending a wave of agony through her body so intense that Scootaloo lost her grip on her consciousness.

After she came to, Scootaloo simply lied there in the mud for some time. She was cold, wet, aching all over, and now in incomprehensible pain. She just lay there, at the forests edge, crying to herself. Thinking that all of her efforts and sacrifices were now for naught. For she was going to die here. Slowly the memory of Nyon came back to her. Should you succeed, you and your people shall be spared. But should you fail… Scootaloo slowly rose back to her hooves, even though the pain was unbearable. She had to protect the artifact at all costs. Even if it meant her life was the price. She pushed the remaining branches out of her way, and slowly crawled out from the cage of sticks and wood. Taking care not to touch her wing.

Having finally crawled out of her wooden torture chamber, she mustered up all of her strength and willpower. She knew that it was late, that there would be nopony awake at the orphanage. If she could just get to her final destination, she could rest in peace. She carefully loaded the artifact into the wagon for what seemed like the hundredth time today, and slowly drifted back toward the orphanage on her scooter.

Ponyville was as dark and miserable as the forest had been. At first Scootaloo thought that the rainstorm had been a random event of the Everfree forest, but this storm seemed to range across the entire valley all the way to Canterlot. Whether it be fate, or just luck, there was not a single pony around to see Scootaloo slowly ride her scooter to the orphanage. Not one pony to see her in such unbelievable pain.

When she finally arrived, she was almost in shock from the pain in her wing. But she kept going all the same. She limped her small body over to the shed, and deposited her scooter and the wagon. She took the artifact with her under her foreleg, and began to climb the steps to the dump she called home.

“The lights are off.” She said to herself weakly, her mind getting hazy from the steady blood loss through the wound in her wing and the cut in her cheek. “Maybe Mrs. Powell will be asleep this time. And I’ll be able to sneak this into my room, where nopony will find it.” As she opened the door and stepped inside, the orphanage remained dark. Nopony was awake. Even if they were, they couldn’t hear her walking heavily over the creaking floorboards. The hammering of the rain on the ramshackle roof and the cacophonous boom of the thunder droned out all sounds. She began the climb to the third floor. Scootaloo was so close to her goal, to the safety of her bed, that it gave her more strength then she could ever ask for.

“Darn it! That’s 35 games in a row!” Sweetie bell yelled, throwing her chalk on to the floor of the room. They had been playing some rather intense games of Tic-tac-to. And they had run out of paper to use, so they just drew on the floor. Clearly Applebloom was more skilled at the game. Then a competitive grin grew across her face. “Best of 71?” Before Applebloom could answer, the door slowly moved open, and there was Scootaloo. Shivering, bruised, panting with exhaustion, with a gash across her cheek and a branch impaled through her wing. And she held underneath her foreleg, the artifact from the crater. Scootaloo took one step forward, and collapsed on the ground. Her little body couldn’t handle the physical stress anymore, and she succumbed to the shock of blood-loss, drifting back once again to the darkness of her mind.