Nights on Horlick's Hill

Chapters

Night 2
Night 3
Night 4
Night 6
Night 7
Night 8
Night 9
Night 10
Night 11
Night 12
Night 13
Night 15
Night 16
Night 17
Night 18
Night 19
Night 20
Night 21
Night 22
Night 24
Night 25
Night 1
Night 5
Night 14
Night 23

Night 2

"So how'd you learn to fly?"

Diamond's ears perked thoughtfully at the question and she shifted her position from watching the stars in the sky, to peering at the orange ball of fuzz and feathers sitting across from her. She shrugged her shoulders and frowned.

"I uh...I kinda just picked up on it. I started with a flutter-step, and worked my way up. I mean, I wasn't really any good at it until I started training to fly into space," she replied, a quiet sense of morose riding along her words. Scootaloo frowned herself and quickly turned away to gaze back up at the stars that twinkled over head. At times she wasn't entirely sure if Diamond really believed she could fly into space, or if she were just trying to fool herself into believing she could. Other times, she swear she could sense something darker behind her constant talk of reaching the stars.

"How long did you practice your Flutter-step?" came the reply from the other side of the hill.

"I started by trying to jump from one block of concrete on the sidewalk to another. I'd measure how far I'd go, then I'd jump again and see how much further I got by flapping my wings. It took me a few years before I even gained any air from my wings. But once I managed to go a whole extra block without touching the ground I knew I was set, " Diamond explained, peering into the infinite blackness of the night. It seemed so much brighter somehow, as if everything on display were illuminated by the stars.

"I haven't done that in a while...maybe I oughta give it another shot," Scootaloo mumbled.

"Couldn't hurt. It's the best I can do some days,"

"Still better than me on anyday."

"You think practicing your Flutter-step is hard? You should try practicing a Shadow-Step sometime."

"A Shadow-Step?"

"It's a 'Shadow Servant' thing. High ranking members of Luna's court can walk through shadows like they were doorways. Pocket Dimensions, or something. Jump into one shadow and come out of another!"

"Thats really cool! Have you ever done it?! Can you teach me?!" Scootaloo asked, a sudden excitement darting in her eyes. Diamond scoffed.

"HA! HAHAHAHA! As if I could! I have run into so many solid walls trying to learn how to do it! It takes years and years of practice just to move a coupla lousy inches! The only one on the team that I've seen do it properly is Nettleglum and she's...well she's....she's on a whole different level. Tartarus, she's in a whole different plane of existence!"

"Ugh. I think I'll stick to flying,"

"I'd wish to learn how to Shadow-step if I could get past the fear of ending up trapped or something in there. "

"Whoa, you can get trapped in shadows?!"

"I think so,"

"Freaky, "

"Hey, speaking of wishes, whats on the schedule for tonight?" Diamond pipped. Scootaloo frowned and sat up thoughtfully.

"What number were we on?"

"Ninth?"

"Tenth, I thought, cause, remember the ostrich?"

"Oh yeah..."

"Right. Ok, we're wishing for a trip to Happy Fun World,"

"Is that what the list said?"

"The wish list never lies, Diamond,"

"I accept the will of the Wish List," Diamond giggled quietly, She was joined in her amusement by Scootaloo, before both of them rolled back onto the grass and let their gaze drift towards the stars.

Night 3

"Nuthin,"

"Nothing?" Scootaloo asked, sitting up from her lofty position on the grass. She gazed over the darkened little hill at her companion, who remained prone and peering up at the billions of stars above. For a long few seconds, Diamond Dancer didn't reply, then she snorted haughtily.

"Did I stutter? No, I ain't a'scared o' nuffin,"

"You must be scared of something! Everypony is,"

"Geez, I dunno...Taxes...I guess..."

"...Taxes? What in Tartarus kind sense does that make?" Scootaloo asked incredulously. If you had offered Scootaloo ten million guesses, not once would she have ever guessed that Diamond Dancer was afraid of taxes. On the other side of the hill, Scootaloo could pick up the sound of shame in her voice, radiating over the grassy rise like heat. Even if she couldn't see it, she could tell Diamond was blushing.

"W-well I..I uh...I ain't so good with numbers, see, and taxes seem really super confusing, and there's, like, a gazillion forms you'se gotta fill out, and there's a whole buncha math, like, how many bits you made and if you have deductions, or like receipts and stuff, and there's so much to keep track of, and if you don't get them right, you go to Tax-Jail Scootaloo! IT'S A REAL PLACE AND PONIES ARE SENT THERE!" Diamond squealed in raising panic.

A awkward silence drifted between the two of them before Scootaloo burst into giggles, followed, sheepishly by Diamond.

"I meant to say water. I'm afraid of water," she added quietly. Scootaloo perked an ear at that. Water?

"Wait, didn't you just get finished telling me about your trip to Hebi Island? There are like, a dozen super venomous species of snakes there, I thought? And you're afraid of water?" Scootaloo balked. Diamond gave a rough snort.

"Snakes don't bother me. They're cool! Sides, I could get bitten by one hundred snakes, and they couldn't pierce my crystal skin, but that same skin is like, super dense when it comes to water. I don't really know, but I sink like a stone no matter how hard I kick. I can never go no where but down. Water is a one way ticket to Drown-Town," Diamond huffed quietly. A sore spot, to be sure. Diamond liked to brag about her alleged invulnerability, but the idea that she could lose to something that came out of the tap was probably wreaking havoc on her self esteem. Before Scootaloo could change the subject however, or apologize for even asking, Diamond had already seized the reins of the conversation.

"And what scares Scootaloo?" Diamond asked, the ever so subtle hint of a snarl creeping along her voice. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and gave a haughty laugh that mimicked Diamond's own. The crystal filly either didn't know what it was that Scootaloo had been fretting about for her entire life, or was simply playing dumb; something that lit a fire inside the orange filly.

"Duh. Never being able to fly. Everypony knows that," she snapped. Silence eased itself in between them and the stars twinkled over head, each one brighter than the last, it seemed. Scootaloo frowned quietly, and lifted up, peering at Diamond who sat quietly, staring at the sky. This wasn't how Wish Nights were supposed to go...

"You know what I'm really scared of? I'm scared I won't get my wish and I wish my friend, Diamond Dancer, could swim, that way she wouldn't be afraid of water anymore." came a sudden voice over Horlick's Hill. Diamond's ears perked and slowly, her cheeks twisted into a warm grin.

"Star light, Star bright, All stars in Luna's night, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish, I wish to night: I wish my buddy Scootaloo, could one day beat my all time highest flyin' record someday so we can race to the stars," Diamond chirped. Instinctively, she glanced down at the pendant dangling from her neck, watching for the tell-tale signs of potential magic radiating from the dangling jewel. When nothing happened, she frowned, and glanced up to find Scootaloo grinning like a maniac.

"...What?" Diamond asked quietly, and squeaked when Scootaloo roughly grabbed her head to point it up towards the heavens; where a single shining star soared across the sky.

Night 4

"Canni see it?"

Diamond quietly lifted her head, bringing Scootaloo's gleaming visage into view; like a child begging for a treat. The crystal filly glanced down at the little glittering jewel hanging from her neck, before she nodded her head and nonchalantly peeled the jewelry away from her collar. Daintily, she held it aloft for Scootaloo to reach out and cup gently in her hooves.

"Is this really a star?" she asks quietly, peering at the tiny gem. it seemed to be a simple trinket; a tiny glass orb connected to a short silver chain that was usually wrapped snugly around Diamond's neck. It glowed ever so faintly in Scootaloo's hooves and Diamond rapidly shook her head.

"Its just a piece of a star. One percent. The rest of its hurling through space somewhere," Diamond explained, keeping a wary eye on the precious gem Scootaloo held. The orange filly knitted her brow, looking the bauble over before she tossed a hopeful glance in Diamond's direction. Diamond didn't even need to hear what the other girl had to ask. She simply shrugged her shoulders with an almost irritated sigh spilling passed her lips.

"You say "I wish:" And then whatever it is you want. Knock yourself out, it's not gonna work," Diamond sighed softly much to Scootaloo's confusion.

"I thought you said it grants wishes?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond resumed her position she'd taken before Scootaloo had asked to see her gem. She leaned back into the grass and pointed towards the sky.

"It does grant wishes, but I'm still tryin to figure it out, exactly. See, I figure it's only like, a chunk of the star, not the full thing. Just a little tiny bit, so the wishes it grants are faulty. Dare are rules. Like, you'se can't make a wish dat would destroy the star, or the pony makin' a wish. Not directly, anyway," Diamond mumbled ruefully. Something turned in the pit of Scootaloo's stomach with the way Diamond had said that; there was a distinct sense of regret to her words. As if sensing Scootaloo's discomfort, Diamond coughed and sat up, gesturing to Scootaloo for the jewel.

"Err, and uh, it usually only grants my wishes, but I don't know why dat is, Luna says da star is powered by my innocence, but I don't dink dats da case, ya know, since I used ta be a thief. Ain't exactly, what you'd call innocent in that sense but it seems to react to me anyway. As far as wishes go, I think it tries to do a variant of the wish, but within its limits? Or something? I don't know, I'm kinda scared of dis ding to be totally honest with you. I don't understand its rules at all," Diamond huffed, now cradling the jewel in her hooves. She held it up, peering through the clear crystal that encased the star itself and sighed.

"Well, why don't you ask Luna about it?" Scootaloo asked, but Diamond shook her head.

"Tried that. She says wish magic is not terribly well documented or understood. I mostly use it in emergencies, like, no matter where the star could send me, I make sure it's better than the place I'm in now. Usually it teleports me somewhere close by, but not in that exact spot, other times, it'll transport me half way around the globe. It's either super fickle or incredibly broad in terms of what it can and can't do," Diamond grumbled, slipping the orb back around her neck. It glistened in the moon light against her murky silver fur. Scootaloo nodded her head and slowly settled back into the grass, staring up into the sky.

"Well...why don't you practice using it? If you did that you'd know what you could wish for in an emergency, right?"

"Scootaloo..."

"And Luna entrusted it to you so clearly she thinks you can handle making wishes"

"Scoot-"

"And what if you find a wish that could totally help the Night Court in a super serious situation!? Wouldn't you be happy to have practiced making wishes?"

"Good lord, you're the devil,"

"It almost sounds like it's your duty to practice making wishes for the good of your team"

"Stop talking,"

"I mean whats the worst thing that could happen? It's only a tiny sliver of a star, right? It can't be that powerful, can it? How would you know if you don't test the limits?

"You'se is sellin' me Tickets to Tartarus, Scootaloo!" Diamond snarled, clutching the blue bangs that dangled in front of her face. Scootaloo just grinned.

"Did you ever stop to think maybe Luna gave you the star so that you could learn how to use it properly?"

"In da future, I'll look back and say this: this was the moment my common sense committed suicide," Diamond groaned, much to Scootaloo's glee. The moment Diamond had muttered the comment about her common sense, a billion things began to drift through Scootaloo's head. All the things she could do with a magic wishing star; the possibilities were endless!!

"How about spending the day in Cloudsdale? Ponies go up there all the time, and that's not a problem, right? It should be a simple wish, right?" Scootaloo asked, eyes brilliantly shining. If the star was as powerful as Diamond claimed it was, then a simple trip to Cloudsdale wasn't too far out of the question, was it? An easy wish that would whisk them away to Cloudsdale for a while, and if that worked, maybe she could convince Diamond to try and fix their wings. For both their sakes! Scootaloo glanced over towards Diamond hopefully and bit her lower lip. The other girl was staring hard at her star, holding it tightly in her hooves.

"So...So just to Cloudsdale and back, right? I mean, we don't have to go no where else, right?" Diamond whimpered. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Cloudsdale! Come on, don't you wanna go?"

"Meh. Not really. I've been to Cloudsdale before. It's full of yuppies and airheads. Mouth-breathers and shmucks, "Diamond grumbled. "But, I can't blame you for wanting to check it out, so, eh, let's see...I wish...hey come'ere. If it takes us anywhere you'se gotta be close," Diamond Dancer explained, reaching out to wrap a foreleg around Scootaloo's shoulders.

"Alright...Here goes...I wish me n' Scoots could spend da day in Cloudsdale," Diamond sputtered softly. The two of them sat there, under the bright glittering stars and waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing happened. Diamond blew out a held sigh of relief, but Scootaloo growled.

"Aww come on?! What, it's just not gonna do anything?" She snapped. Diamond shrugged her shoulders.

"I said it doesn't always work. There must have been some reason it couldn't take us to Cloudsdale, Maybe we weren't specific enough," Diamond explained, with a shrug. She reached a hoof up, poking at the star tentatively, but nothing happened. Scootaloo frowned.

"Lame," she snorted. Diamond winced. Her ears splayed back against her skull and she nibbled at her lower lip sheepishly.

"Ahh...S-sorry, Scoots. But, even if this star don't work, there are still a whole bunch of 'em up there, right?" she squeaked, pointing a blackened leg into the air, at the millions of trickling dots above them. Quietly, Scootaloo smiled, and nodded her head.

"Yeah...You're right. We'll get a wish eventually,"

"And we won't stop until we do!!" Diamond beamed, laying back down under the tree, where she gestured for Scootaloo to do the same. She did as such, and Diamond gave a quiet sigh.

"You know, Diamond, it doesn't really matter if the star works or not. This is cool as it is." The orange filly mumbled. Diamond glanced over, a lazy smile twisting over her lips.

"Yeah?"

"Heh. Yeah," Scootaloo said quietly, the together, the two of them peered into the night sky, waiting for another shooting star.

Night 6

Diamond Dancer was atop the lone tree on Horlick's Hill when Scootaloo rolled up to the base. She sported a lofty grin across her lips and a relaxed position that had her hidden from sight, leaving only one hind leg dangling down above the canopy of the tree. Before Scootaloo could call up to her through, the silver filly plummeted from the branch she was hanging from, and landed face first into the hillside below her.

"Heya Scoots!" Diamond erupted, no worse for wear and a gleaming smile wrapped around her features. Even having seen Diamond fall out of trees and crash into things, Scootaloo still winced at seeing the other girl topple to the ground. She quietly sat down next to Diamond, who quickly righted herself into a sitting position.

"You seem like you're in a good mood. Whats the big deal?"she asked. Diamond's smile grew wider still and she drew in a deep breath, tossing out her lithe chest in a prideful boast of feathers and fuzz.

"Wha, me? Nuffin, jus aced my dreamcraft test tonight, thats all!" she announced. Scootaloo smiled on reaction, even if that reaction was immediately washed away with confusion. She shot the other filly a curious glance and raised an eyebrow.

"Kaaay, first of all I didn't know you were taking any classes, and secondly, You did what now?? I mean, like, great, I guess? But what?" Scootaloo asked, watching Diamond climb up to her hooves with an ever growing boastful gleam in her eye.

"Oh, I'm not takin' any classes, or things like that, but Luna's been teachin' me some Dreamcraft, and tonight she gave me an exam about the stuff I've learned and I totally passed!" Diamond announced again, louder this time, so her tiny voice echoed out to Ponyville. This was all news to Scootaloo, who nodded her head regardless of her confusion. But it certainly sounded interesting...

"Ok. Dreamcraft? Like that time she pulled the whole town into a dream? That kinda stuff?" she asked. Diamond immediately nodded her head,

"Yeah! Jus like that! I mean, she's really really good at it. I'm just, sorta startin' out, but Luna says it's my right to learn as a member of the Servants of Shadow, so she's been teachin me little tricks and stuff. Like, how to go to sleep on command, or how to recognize when you're in a dream," Diamond explained. Scootaloo's eyes widened slowly. If Diamond were learning abilities like that, then, maybe...

"Do you think you'll learn how to pull other people into dreams?" Scootaloo cooed. Diamond's eyes lit up like stars and the filly let out a boisterous cackle.

"Funny enough, THAT was what my test was about! I totally can!" she barked. Scootaloo slowly nodded her head, trying to bite back her own growing excitement. She'd wanted to visit the dream realm again since the Tatabus incident. There was no masking the fact that flight- even some flight within a dream- was intoxicating. She smiled sweetly, and tilted her head, looking the scrawny filly next to her over.

"So, could we hang out in the Dream Realm?" Scootaloo purred. Diamond immediately stopped laughing, and reached a hoof up to rub the back of her head.

"Of course we can! I passed with flyin' colors! Heh! All we gotta do, is...Is um...Oh....Aheh...y-yeah, I uh, mean we totally could, I just...um..." Diamond stammered. Immediately, Scootaloo rolled her eyes. While Diamond had never outright lied about her accomplishments, she did have a habit of embellishing her stories. Another one of those times, Scootaloo was sure. She gave a snort at Diamond's sudden shift in bravado and shook her head.

"What? This isn't like the time with those Timber wolves, is it?" Scootaloo growled. Diamond had once claimed she'd beaten up an entire pack of Timber wolves, and while the story had some merit to it, Diamond had simply managed to survive an encounter with a pack of them. An accomplishment in and of itself in its own right, to be sure, but not quite on par with besting a group of savage beasts.

"What?! No! It's nothing like that! I-I can totally do it, I-I just need um, some, time to prepare. First. T-thats all. I can totally do it. " Diamond stammered with a less than reassuring smile pointed at Scootaloo. The orange filly frowned, staring at Diamond hard. There was something slightly askew about her all of a sudden, the skiddish behavior an extremely sharp departure from the young braggart only moments before. Was she really capable of dream walking like she said? What caused the sudden change in her courage? More importantly, was it something Scootaloo could help with? She wasn't going to try and kid herself out of her desires. Getting back into the dream realm would be a chance to fly again, and it enticed her greatly, but Diamond was her friend, and whatever was suddenly wrong drew priority. Slowly, she shook her head, offering the silver filly a quiet smile.

"Look...it doesn't matter. We don't have to-" Scootaloo began, but paused when Diamond leapt to her hooves, a brash and utter defiance in her movements. Scootaloo grimaced. The sharp snort and angry looking demeanor Diamond suddenly wore said it all: Pegasus Pride was taking over.

"No! I said we could! We can! I just need a little bit of prep work...C-can't do it tonight, see. T-this weekend! We can do it this weekend" Diamond sputtered quietly. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow, but slowly nodded her head.

"Alright, D, Sure. We can try it this weekend! I can't wait to see the Dream Realm again! You're so lucky you get to visit all these cool places," Scootaloo lamented quietly. Diamond flashed Scootaloo what looked to be a forced smile, and slowly took a step back, then another, and then a third, turning towards towards the path to White Tail Woods.

"Well, don't worry, Scoots, I'll show ya real soon! I gotta run. I'm not sleepin' at the castle tonight, and I still need to gather from flowers from Everfree before the sun comes up," Diamond explained. Scootaloo nodded, slowly making her way down the hill where she climbed aboard her scooter. She spared a glance back at Diamond, who had started to make her way down the path towards White Tail Woods. Peering over her shoulder at her wings, Scootaloo gave them each a flicker, imagining what it would be like to fly again, even if it were just a dream.

Diamond groaned as she meandered down the path. The night had started off so well. She'd passed her test, earned some time off, and now, somehow, she'd managed to screw everything up with her big stupid mouth. The filly hung her head with another volatile groan bursting from her throat. It would have been easy to say no. She should have said no. She could just as easily have said that it was outside of her power to bring people into dreams. That wasn't so hard, was it? But no. She had to go and tell her best friend that she'd be ready by the weekend.

"You, Diamond are a dumb pony. You are the dumbest pony, Diamond. The dumbest of dumb ponies," Diamond growled quietly. No so quietly, that it didn't go unheard.

"SSkeeeEEeeeee?"

Diamond perked her ears ever so slightly at the sound, but it did nothing to sway her abysmal walk down the dirt road to home. She didn't even bother to look up and address the little black bat that swooped down over her head.

"Hey, Echo. Yeah, dumb. How are you?" The filly glumly asked. The tiny bat over head squeaked again, landing delicately on Diamond's head where it settled itself down between her ears. It screeched, twice, and Diamond forced a gentle smile. The little black bat wasn't exactly what Diamond would call a 'pet.' It didn't sleep in a cage, and didn't wear a collar. It was simply a wild bat Diamond had managed to befriend in her travels. On occasion, they encountered one another in the wild. When given the chance, Diamond had grown fond of feeding the little bat berries and fruit, grape being her favorite, and the little bat had grown rather fond of Diamond's company. With a few dialect lessons from her friend, and bat-pony, Dawn, Diamond was able to hold rudimentary conversations with the bat on her head, and vice versa.

"No, no, I'm fine. Yeah, I went to the hill. I just...I said somethin' stupid tonight, Echo," Diamond explained softly. " My buddy, Scootaloo, right? She...ugh. This is stupid. She wants to go to visit the Dream Realm and she wants me to take her there. I told her I just passed a dreamcraft test,"

"SKREEEEEEEEK" said Echo. Diamond frowned again, shaking her head sending Echo wobbling back and forth.

"No. I can do it. I know I can do it. That's not the problem, I'm just not...good at it, so if I wanna drag her in, we gotta both be asleep and I gotta be holdin' onto some part of her," Diamond mumbled. Above her, Echo raised a tiny bat eyebrow. Her lips peeled back into a slow, wicked, fang filled grin.

"SKreeee-eeee?" asked Echo.

"...No, that wouldn't work, It's gotta be closer than that, So, like, ya know...c-cuddling, I guess," Diamond squeaked. Her voice was raising higher and higher the nearer she got to panic mode.

"SKree?" Echo asked. Diamond did not like the tone in her voice of the insinuation she implied.

"N- no. Nothing like that!! She's just my friend, is all. It's not weird. There's nothing weird about it, you're makin' it weird! Quit makin it weird!" Diamond stammered, her cheeks starting to pinken. Her ears perked, immediately flinching at the sound Echo was making. Could bats laugh? If Diamond didn't know any better, she'd swear Echo was having a giggle fit on the top of her head.

"REEEEE?! SKEEEE," asked Echo, drawing Diamond into a sudden spike of rage with her callus attitude towards her accusation.

"No, I am not SCARED! It's because I'm a fierce warrior of the night! I'm not some stuffed animal! I don't DO cuddling! There's a warrior's pride at stake and I can feel you rolling your eyes, Echo," Diamond growled.

"Skreeeee! EEEree!" Echo squawked in that way Diamond could swear she was laughting. She, hopped off of her head to take flight again, loftily gliding in circles around Diamond as the pega-pony headed home.

"But I what if I smell funny? I can't smell anything, how would I ever know?! Or what if I drool in my sleep?! What if I snore?! I've never been to a sleepover before, what if I get it wrong?!" Diamond shrieked, her fur standing on end. This was a terrible idea! Why on earth would she ever agree to transporting somepony into the Dream Realm? Was it because she wanted to impress Scootaloo? Is that why she did it? Why was it so important to impress Scootaloo? Was she really so scared of losing Scootaloo's friendship? Could she lose in trying to keep it?

"Skreee-skree!"

"Hahah, thanks for the vote of confidence. You're right, I'm a Servant of Shadow! I can do anything! Still, though, you'd think sleeping with your best friend wouldn't be so complicated, but here we are," Diamond whined.

Night 7

Scootaloo frowned as her scooter rolled to a gentle stop at the base of Horlick's Hill. Diamond did not greet her with a loud, boisterous hello or an exaggerated wave of her hoof. She sat at the far side of the hill, quietly hunched over with her back turned to Scootaloo. She knew immediately something was wrong. The quivering shoulders and the echo of a running nose screamed in volumes a song of sorrow; a familiar record Scootaloo had heard one too many times before.

She approached quietly, unsure if she were doing the right thing in disturbing the obviously distraught girl. Something inside of her pressed her forward, though. Quiet as she tried to be, she must have made a sound, or perhaps it was the various training the Servants of Shadow did, but somehow, Diamond knew of her presence. She turned to glance over her shoulder at Scootaloo before turning away with another silent sob, immediately trying to force herself back into her invulnerable, and brash persona.

Scootaloo winced quietly. She didn't need to ask what was weighing on Diamond's mind. The dishoveled wings sprouting from her back looked particularly rough tonight, and the girl held a shaking hoof-full of dead and blackened feathers. Ones that had come off of her wings far, far too easily.

Diamond stared at them through bleary eyes and did her best to dry her tears and greet Scootaloo with a smile, but the sight of her stained feathers shattered whatever pretense of 'fine' she was trying to pretend she was. Her beautiful silver feathers. Blackened and scraggly, the quills were bent and crooked, twisting in every direction but 'straight'. Her beautiful, wonderful wings, lost forever to the marring ebony stains that plagued her and would plague her for the rest of her short, terrible life. The tears surged through her defenses again and a fresh round of sobbing bubbled to the surface. Even when Scootaloo wrapped a foreleg around the shuddering filly and squeezed tightly.

"It's not so bad," Scootaloo sputtered and immediately winced as the words exited her mouth. She didn't mean to say that, really she didn't. It was just the first thought that popped into her mind to try and comfort the girl. She knew all too well the pain of not being able to fly, but could she even fathom the suffering of having the ability and then losing it? Was never again tasting the joy of flight worse than never having the joy to miss? Scootaloo sighed. Somehow they were both trapped in two different versions of the exact same Tartarus.

"I tried to get up to Cloudsdale this afternoon. I couldn't. This is ten days in a row," the silver filly lamented. They sat that way for a long few moments before Diamond pulled away. She lifted her hooves and bitterly watched her feathers float silently to the ground. She gave a harsh little snort and pointed her gaze towards the sky.

"It'll...It's gonna be okay, Diamond," Scootaloo said softly. To her dismay, Diamond twisted towards her with another violent snort, blowing hot steam from her nostrils. She rose to her hooves slowly and glared the Devil's Glare in Scootaloo's direction.

"What exactly are you basing that one on, Scoots?" Diamond growled. Scootaloo sighed and shook her head quietly, reaching a tentative hoof out resting it gently on Diamond's shoulder.

"The fact that your wings aren't what define you. You think Luna wants you because you can fly? You told me the story of your first mission; The one where Luna instructed you to reignite the star around your neck. You went underground and participated in a war between Diamond Dogs tribes. Under. Ground. Most pegasi are super messed up just being on the regular ground, but underground? Where any and all flight is limited? You went down there and you fetched an Ember Gem and none of that required you to fly, DD. You helped end a war and returned with a rare piece of a rock and your wings had nothing to do with it! Luna could pick from several dozen pegasi for missions if flight was the only thing she was concerned about! She picked YOU because you get things done. Cause you're crazy loyal to her. Cause she trusts you. I mean, she doesn't just go around handing out Royal Runes and boons to just any filly, right? You told me you were the youngest filly ever inducted into the Night Court, and you think she decided to just pick a random little filly to be her errant simply because she had wings? If you never fly again, Diamond, you still have an older brother to go back to, a laundry list of titles and achievements, and let's not forget, THE UNLIMITED POWER OF THE COSMOS AT YOUR HOOVES. Your value does not begin or end with your wings, it never has and it never will," Scootaloo cooed softly.

For a long time, Diamond let silence fill the void of conversation between her and Scootaloo. They simply sat under the stars with the smaller filly staring up at the bejeweled sky.

"Why us? Why us, Scoots? Why us?" Diamond sighed miserably. Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders.

"Life sucks," the orange pegasus said simply. Diamond tilted her head, tossing Scootaloo a sidelong glance before she gave a bitter chuckle. She could appreciate Scootaloo's brutal honesty.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does," she murmured softly. Scootaloo slowly reclined until she mirrored Diamond on the grassy hill and peered up at the stars.

"It sucks a little less if you've got friends, you know. You give any more thought to hanging out with Applebloom and Sweetie? They're really cool and think you guys would get along," Scootaloo offered hesitantly. Diamond drew in a gentle sigh and shook her head quietly. How could an earth pony and a unicorn possibly understand what she was going through?

"Maybe...but I doubt they'll be too keen on being dragged out here at midnight jus' to look at a buncha stars,"

"You'd be surprised; Sweetie's weird," Scootaloo said deadpan. She grinned when she heard the other girl chuckle.

"Sweetie's weird? Have you met me? Heh...You'se is right, cha know? I'm 'Da Miracle Mare from Manehatten' after all! I guess I get a little bit freaked out seeing my own feathers like that. Sorry for uh...losin' my cool like that," Diamond coughed sheepishly from the other side of the hill. Scootaloo beamed quietly and waved a dismissive hoof.

"It's okay, Diamond. I mean, you know, I get it," Scootaloo mumbled.

"I know," said Diamond.

Night 8

"So whats the deal with these Sol guys?"

"Sol?" Diamond asked quietly, the tiny filly perking an ear at her companion sitting on the other side of the tree. Scootaloo quietly nodded her head, even if Diamond couldn't see her doing so.

The two of them had found the time to meet again, Diamond's evening filled with innocuous tasks that could be easily accomplished, and Scootaloo's summer vacation left her with no homework that was required, and in turn, left her nights open to spend with the silver-coated filly she'd come to call a friend. The evening had been warm and inviting, speckled with the occasion firefly, and bathed in a warm summer's breeze, yet neither of them were particularly talkative. Diamond was enjoying the warm summer night while Scootaloo simply relished in not having school in the morning.

Still, utter silence did not sit well with Scootaloo (or Diamond for that matter) which prompted the question in the first place. Diamond tilted her head curiously to one side before she frowned.

"Yeah. I heard you mention them once or twice. A group of jerks or something. I jus' wanna know what the deal is? You mentioned, once that you had to deal with them, but who are they?" barked a question from the other side of the tree. Diamond shifted her position as if the question had caused her some amount of discomfort. She'd been resting with her hooves on her belly and her head supported by the wide trunk of the single tree that stood atop Horlick's hill.

"Yeah. That's about right. Buncha jerks. Way back in the day, right? Celestia sends Luna to the moon. Everypony knows that story. But there's more to it," Diamond grumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. So, after Luna's gone, Celestia breaks off part of her sun guard. A special task force created just in case Luna manages to break free from the moon and return with a vengeance. Designed to protect the townsponies and the Celestia herself, she calls them Sol, or, the Soldiers of Light, " Diamond snorted. Scootaloo winced. Just from the voice alone, she could tell Dimaond felt a certain way about the entire 'banished to the moon' situation. Still, she kept quiet, letting the other filly continue.

"So bout a hundred years pass, right? Maybe Celestia drops her guard and doesn't think Luna will escape, maybe she decided she deserves whatever punishment Luna inflicts. Regardless, she disbands Sol. Sol decides, however, that their mission is too important. Luna poses too much of a 'threat' so in secret, they continue operating and recruiting. They were convinced Luna would come back and tear the realm asunder. Jump to a coupla years ago, and Princess Twilight breaks the spell, and now Luna's back. As you can probably guess, Sol isn't totally cool with this,"

"Ok. So this group thinks Luna will go all 'Nightmarey' again and they're trying to put a stop to it? That's not fair! She didn't do anything, and she even saved the town a few times! And what does any of this have to do with you?" Scootaloo huffed quietly.

"...Way back when, Luna used to have, children of her own. Fillies and colts she'd pluck from orphanages and take to her garden of shadows. One night where they could escape the horrors of their situation and be at peace. In the darkness. Just once a week. Or month. Or whenever she could find the time to brighten their dismal lives. Then she gets rocketed off to the moon and the foal are screwed again. But before then, she called them her 'children of the night'" Diamond murmured. Scootaloo's ears perked curiously. A tale she'd never heard before. Luna had kids? Wait...

"Diamond...Are you...?" she paused. She didn't even need to finish her sentence. She could feel Diamond's prideful grin from clear across the trunk of the tree.

"The first 'Child of the night' in a thousand years. Teeheehee, yes!! Then Dawn and Dinky had to come along and spoil it, but for a while there...I was her only one. Which is why Sol wants me, I think. See, they don't think any pony would willingly put themselves into Luna's company. I guess they buy into their own hype since she's got a lot of vicious rumors about her. Probably started by them. So I pop up, right? An mysterious orphan from another city, strange black markings all over, and devoted to the stars in the sky and the night itself. Of course, they come after me. They think I'm a conjured up dream demon or puppet or something. Created from the night itself and made to serve Luna," Diamond said with a haughty snort riding her voice.

"That's just...thats crazy! You're totally normal! You're not some demon!" Scootaloo snapped.

"Hahaha! Sure, Scoots. The next time they decide to try and have a chat, I'll let them know you said that. On the surface, they're trying to claim Foal Endangerment. They're trying to claim the princess is the one who cursed me, but underneath, I think they're just trying to deliver a blow or something to Luna. Taking out the first 'child' she's had in a long time would probably do that. They want to tell them everything I know and they think I'll start spilling the beans cause I'm just a filly. Humph! They can foal-nap me a thousand times and I won't say nuffin!" Diamond erupted suddenly in a fierce bark that made Scootaloo's fur heckle on her neck.

"They...They foal-napped you?! Real talk?" Scootaloo winced. Diamond suddenly became quiet. She shifted against the tree again and stared up at the sky, losing herself in darkness and memories.

"...It's a long story. Luna...Luna made sure that....that would never happen again. They will never do that again'." Diamond mumbled quietly, quivering where she sat.

"You're lucky. I wish I had something like that,"

"Something like what?"

"Something to devote yourself too. Some pony that has your back no matter what,"

"Well, what about the crusaders?! Heck, what about me?! I'VE got your back Scoots! If Sol ever decides to mess with you, they mess with me, and if they mess with me, they're messing with Luna, and, Luna, don't, mess, around!" the silver filly laughed. Scootaloo found herself grinning despite of the conversation and it turned into a legitimate smile with Diamond boisterous announcement of protection

"Yeah?"

"Totally Scoots. Totally. "

"Then I've got yours too."

Night 9

"Tell me about the mission, again?" Scootaloo asked thoughtfully before she cast a glance at Diamond. The other filly didn't respond right away, instead, she let her gaze linger a bit longer on Everfree forest. She had positioned herself a few branches higher than where Scootaloo had settled, for the express purpose of staring into the forest adjacent to the town. She shook her head quietly with a dismissive snort when she didn't see what she'd been looking for, and turned to peer down at Scootaloo.

"Well, there have been reports of strange lights being sighted at night in Everfree forest lately. Luna wants me to go and check it out to see if it's a threat or not," Diamond explained proudly. Scootaloo arched an eyebrow slowly.

"So, basically, the mission is screw around in the forest all night, but instead of sending in well-trained soldiers, Luna wants to send in an untrained filly and hope for the best? Huh. Interesting strategy," Scootaloo snickered. From somewhere immediately above her, an angry snarl rang out through the leaves.

"Firstly, it ain't screwin' around! It's a super important recon mission for the safety of Equestria! And two, I am totally trained! I trained super hard for, like, months and months to do the things I do! Virga trained me, n' Nightshade, and Firefly, and even Luna herself!" Diamond protested, now dangling from the branch she was resting on. She held on awkwardly, leaning down just far enough to take in Scootaloo's near liquid form below her. The orange filly was languid and relaxed, limbs dangling lifelessly from the branch below her. Diamond continued, unabated by Scootaloo's lack o response or even acknowledgment.

"Thiiiird It's a GREAT strategy! See, this way, the castle doesn't waste a bunch of horsepower on something that turns out to be a harmless Will-o-Wisp, ya' know? Nopony gets hurt, I get to help Luna, Equestria stays safe!" Diamond barked loudly. She had an extremely proud smile wrapped around her features, and Scootaloo couldn't really blame her. From Diamond's point of view, she must have felt like she were protecting the majority of the castle's military force from potential threats. Why risk the soldiers when she could step in instead and return unharmed? A noble gesture, when you looked at it from the right light, but ultimately, Scootaloo preferred Diamond not to be in any danger at all, even if the mission was simply 'search for strange lights.'

Diamond began making her way down the tree, tentatively, and one branch at a time. Originally, had hoped she could get a good view of the forest from the tree that sprouted at the peak of Horlick's Hill, but apart from a few dark tree trunks and foreboding darkness, nothing stood out to the little Errant-in-training.

"You know what you could use if you're heading into Everfree forest? Somepony to watch your back!" Scootaloo pipped, dropping down to the next branch below her following Diamond towards the ground.

"Yeah, but not you," she responded. Flatly. Scootaloo scowled.

"Why not, I can help!"

"Yeeeah, but if you got hurt or somethin' happened to you, I'd feel super bad, and I would never, ever forgive myself!"

"What, like that doesn't go both ways? I can't just let one of my friends walk into Everfree forest alone and get eaten by a bug-bear! Who would hang out with me on Horlick's?"

And that was the end of it with Diamond's protest dying in her throat at the masterstroke of Scootaloo's argument. It had given her pause, and that was all Scootaloo needed in order to sway the filly to her favor.

"You said it was just a recon mission, right? We're just lookin' for something weird, we don't have to actually fight anything, so wouldn't two heads be better than one?" she asked, watching Diamond struggle with the final few feet from the last branch in the tree to the ground. With a waggle of her legs, she tumbled from the tree and landed solidly on her belly against the grass.

"Sellin' me tickets to Tartarus," Diamond grumbled gruffly. Scootaloo grinned. Whenever Diamond muttered that phrase, she knew Diamond was giving thought to whatever the situation was at hoof.

"You've been trained, right? You JUST said you were trained for months for this sorta thing, riiiight? And if anything happens, you can just use your star to wish us somewhere safe, right?" Scootaloo continued, biting at her lower lip as Diamond's shoulders rose and fell in silent defeat.

"Well, it's not like Everfree is under restricted access or anything. It's still public and since it's just a recon so I guess it couldn't hurt too much to snoop around together. Maybe we'll find aliens or something!" she laughed, but her comment drew her to a thought; what if it was aliens? Mysterious lights, deep in the forest late at night... she shuddered watching as Scootaloo giddily landed on the ground next to her, and raced over to her scooter.

"This is gonna be awesome! Do you know any, like, cool, secret routes through the forest we could take?" Scootaloo asked, climbing aboard her scooter. Even in the grass, Scootaloo's wings could propel herself around with relative ease. She zipped over next to Diamond, who rose up on her hooves and began to trot down the path off of the hill.

"Naw, nothing like that. Nettie is the one who lives in the forest. She knows all kinda of crazy secrets about that place. I just visit on occasion," Diamond squeaked, gesturing towards Everfree. The forest wasn't terribly far from Horlick's Hill and the jaunt to the edge of it was a short one. The pair stopped just outside the entrance and peered nervously into the darkness.

There was a depth to Everfree Forest, Scootaloo noticed, that did not seem to adhere to normal laws of physics. The forest always seemed deeper, darker and larger every time she looked at it. Like from any distance, the trees seemed like they were swallowing up every last drop of her perception until the forest was all she saw. An optical illusion, she was sure, but it never failed to send a distinct chill down her spine. Diamond, similarly seemed unable to avert her gaze from the encompassing darkness, but unlike Scootaloo, Diamond seemed drawn towards it. She'd once said the darkness was alluring and comforting, often calling to her when she'd been 'in the light for too long'. As a proclaimed 'night pony' Diamond seemed more at home in the late hours of the evening than she ever was during the day. Here, she presented much less hesitation than Scootaloo, dipping herself into the shadows of the forest without further pause. Scootaloo was quick to follow.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, strolling through the forest side by side while Scootaloo took everything in. She was on high alert, analyzing every last detail of her surroundings, with her senses opened up to the world and keeping an extra careful eye on Diamond. The silver filly seemed utterly cavalier in her quiet trot. Her shoulders were relaxed, her demeanor airy and she seemed nonchalant about the dangers that could befall them at any minute. Was it part of her training, or had she forgotten that Scootaloo wasn't 'invulnerable' like she was? Or perhaps she didn't hear anything worth worrying about. Of the numerous things Diamond claimed, her extraordinary sense of sight and hearing was something that she could consistently prove. As long as Scootaloo kept close, Diamond could provide an early warning to anything dangerous lurking in the shadows.

"So, Diamond, what do you actually do in combat? Like, when you're with the other Shadow Servants? Do you have special orders? Or a specific battle formation like the phalanx?" Scootaloo pipped thoughtfully. Diamond shot her a sidelong glance before she gave a nervous little chuckle as she walked along and shrugged her shoulders.

"Err, well, mostly I try to stay out of the way. Virga's the real heavy hitter in combat situations," the girl squeaked. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

"Stay out of the way? That's what you do in battle? That's it?!" she asked incredulously. Diamond gave a snort.

"Whadda mean "That's it?" Yeah, that's it! Look at me, Scoots. Look over here, y'see this? You can see my ribs when I inhale, kay, watch," Diamond explained, doing just that. True to her word, Scootaloo could easily count each tiny individual rib Diamond had presented for review when she drew her belly up against her frame in a sharp intake of air.The filly exhaled and dismissively waggled a tiny hoof in Scootaloo's direction. "I'm a lil' skelly filly, ok? I'm a little boney pony! I'm not exactly throwin' knockouts when it comes to the servants. If Virga needs me in combat, it's usually to use me as a weapon," the filly grumbled.

"So, you're saying you just watch all the battles that go on?" Scootaloo asked flatly. The filly had claimed to be a monster hunter. Luna's top monster hunter as a matter of fact, and had regaled Scootaloo with tales of fighting packs of Timberwolves and giant monstrosities. Had Diamond really only been on the sidelines for all of those? It would make sense, considering the girl was wiry and scrawny. The thin strips of muscle that bled through her fur were prominent but tiny, and her gaunt features and minuscule, malnourished wings left much to be desired when it came to tackling some of the beasts Diamond had claimed to have fallen.

"I wouldn't say I just 'watch' I take an active role in not getting my tail kicked, That includes running away and hiding!" Diamond explained cheerfully. Scootaloo stared, drew in a sharp breath, and let it out with a frustrated sigh. She was utterly positive Diamond was lying to her, but she wasn't ever quite sure about what. The girl had demonstrated she actually worked for the Princess and really was on a team of elite servants. The outlandish story about the tiny trinket around her neck granting her impossible wishes was jaw-droppingly true, and she even claimed she had super speed like Rainbow Dash. Of course, she had claimed she was a monster hunter for Luna when she was in fact an errand girl. She'd made claims of reaching the Mesosphere on sheer wing power alone, and she claimed she'd survived a train to the face. All things Scootaloo found dubious, at best.

"So, what do we do if we actually come across Timber-wolves? You've got a plan for them, right? You said you hang out in the forest all the time, so you must run into them, right?" Scootaloo asked nervously. Diamond simply shook her head.

"Well, since they can't really chew through crystal, most of the time they leave me alone. Every now and then one will get bitey and go for my face, but that always ends with them realizing they can't actually eat me, and end up going after some other meaty morsel. Sides, I'm not quite a main course. Boney-pony, remember? I figure if they see you they won't bother you cause you're with me, but don't worry, I'll hear them long before they get anywhere close to us," Diamond explained with an arrogant smile tugging at her lips.

"It must be neat having super senses," Scootaloo sighed. Diamond rolled her eyes and gave a groan.

"It would be neat to have regular senses. Like, maybe taste. Or maybe smell. Hey, that's a good question! What do I smell like?!" Diamond asked, immediately glancing at Scootaloo, who merely shrugged.

"Sugary." she said. Diamond stared.

"...Sugary?"

"Yeah. Sugary. Like, powdered sugar,"

"sugar comes in 'powder' form now?"

"And you smell like it,"

"I feel like I should be taking offense to this. I think? I smell sweet, is what you're saying?"

"Like sugar. The powdered kind,"

"Is that better than the regular kind?"

"I guess."

"Is it better than sugar cubes?"

"Nothing is better than sugar cubes, Diamond,"

"So you're saying I'm powdered sugar, but not cubed sugar,"

"That is correct."

"How can I reach cubed status, Scootaloo?! Tell me, I must know!" Diamond giggled, before she stood up straight and stopped in her tracks. Scootaloo stopped too, turning to stare into the darkness where Diamond was facing. The silver filly's ears splayed back against her skull and she took a step back, peering into the gloom at something Scootaloo couldn't see.

"What...What is that?! W-what in Tartarus is that?!" Diamond snapped suddenly, taking several steps back. Scootaloo did the same, still wildly searching for whatever seemed to panic Diam- oh.

The creature lumbered toward them slowly. Moving a massive, shaggy furry bulk, the creature was large and decidedly squarish. Like a black furred rectangle, someone had given limbs. It towered over the fillies, peering down at them out of a single, bulbous blue eye in the center of its head. The eye gave off a faint metallic sheen that glimmered in the moon light, and it played its gaze across the two of them curiously before moving on.

It swayed back and forth with its steps, seemingly in no particular rush to get anywhere. Whatever it was, the creature did not seem hostile and walked with big, booming steps crashing through the underbrush . It meandered pass the stunned girls, it made its way deeper into Everfree forest and vanished into the darkness, leaving Diamond Dancer and Scootaloo stunned and mouths agape.

"Was...was that a cyclops? Are there cyclopses in Equestria? Cyclopsees? Cyclopseses?" Scootaloo whispered. Diamond shrugged.

"I've never seen something like that before...I have no idea. But I'm willing to bet if we follow it, it'll lead us to whatever those lights are! Come on!!" Diamond squeaked, the two of them wading deeper into the darkness of the forest.

Night 10

"So whats a Dazzling Dash?"

"What?"

"Yeah. You're always talking about how you use your 'Dazzling Dash' when you 'fight monsters.' What is it?" Scootaloo asked, peering at her companion next to her. Diamond birthed a wide grin and sat upright from her languid position. She'd been sitting in her favorite spot on Horlick's Hill watching the stars in the sky and pointing out her favorite constellations to Scootaloo.

"... Did you make air quotes when you said 'fight monsters?'" Diamond asked. Scootaloo grinned and shrugged, Diamond huffed.

"Well, it's just a head-butt, but like, it's a head-butt with super speed. My contrail comes out and everything! I totally slam into something really super-duper hard and most of the time its monsters, and they give up, cause they see how awesome it is!"

"Waitwaitwait. You? You have super speed?" Scootaloo asked incredulously, an orange eyebrow raised as high as it could go. Diamond Dancer flashed a silver shining grin and nodded her head.

"The superest!" the girl squawked. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"Is this like the time you told me you were eaten by a hydra and then it spit you up from one of its other mouths?"

"That is- That is totally a real story that really happened," Diamond sputtered quickly. Scootaloo rolled her eyes in the other direction.

"Alright then. Super speed, huh? Can you run, to, like, I dunno, Manehatten and back?"

"Aw, I don't wanna go to Manehatten right now, sides, it would take me like, hours to get there,"

"That doesn't sound very super,"

"It's all kinds of super!"

"Prove it,"

"Prove it?"

"Prove it,"

"Uh, I can't do it here. Bad spot for it," the silver filly stammered.

"And why is that?"

"This is a hill. It's kinda, ya know, slopey. It's too steep, I might sprain an ankle,"

"You are worried about your ankles. From running. When you have told me, you survived being hit with an oncoming train. In the face. And your ankles are what you're worried about?" Scootaloo's eyes were beginning to hurt from rolling so much.

"Have you ever sprained an ankle? It hurts a whole lot!"

"How would you know?! You can't feel pain, or was that a fib too?"

"I don't fib!"

"I don't knooooow, claiming you have super speed but you can't prove you've got super speed, sounds like the sort of thing a fibber might say,"

"I have super speed, I just...it's just..."

"Just what? The moon isn't right or something? Can you only do it on days of the week that start with M?"

"No. I'll trip,"

"You'll trip?"

"I'll trip,"

"...And..?"

"And I don't want to trip. Tripping is very uncomfortable,"

"So, what you're telling me, is you have super speed, one of the more remarkable skills some pegasi are gifted with, but you are afraid of tripping, which is why you refuse to use it?"

"That is correct,"

"Why am I not surprised by this? I bet if we went to town where all the roads are flat, you'd complain about how it was too bright there, or something,"

"Well the town is pretty bright..." Diamond whined. Scootaloo gave a rough, aggravated snort and stood up, heading towards the scooter parked at the base of the hill.

"Whatever D. I'll see you later," Scootaloo grumbled. Why she would drag herself out to the middle of nowhere, just to listen to a filly tell her fibs was beyond her. Behind her, Diamond gave a quiet sigh and slowly stood up as well. She brushed the grass off of her fur, shook out her forelegs and stretched like a cat.

"AHEM," she coughed, grasping hold of Scootaloo's attention. The orange filly turned around, watching with waning curiosity. Diamond said a lot of things, and most of them, as far as Scootaloo could tell, were outright lies. She liked to craft her own narratives in place of the truth, often to her own advantage when something she was trying to do had not gone her way. Had it not been for the numerous feathers that spilled from her wings when she used them, she'd even question the girl's alleged sickness.

Slowly, Diamond knelt down, lifting her rump into the air, like a runner on a track might, and narrowed her eyes. The hill was fairly slopey, but she figured her pride had been long gone by this point anyhow, she might as well. She knew full well what was going to happen, but she kicked herself into gear anyway, galloping forward down the hill as fast as she could. Scootaloo watched and was so far unimpressed. The tiny filly raced and raced, going faster and faster. At first, it seemed like another one of Diamond's tall tales, until Scootaloo noticed something strange. Her hooves were beginning to sparkle and glitter and Diamond was accelerating. Faster and faster still, far past the point of a normal pony's running speed. By now a white-bluish tinge was starting to accompany her, darting from her wings and tail with a bright glow, like a flag in her wake. Scootaloo's eyes widened, watching Diamond run, faster and faster still until she looked like a white blur streaking across the grass. Incredible! it was incredible! Was Diamond propelling herself with her wings the way she could do with a scooter? Perhaps not as fast as Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo observed, but certainly nothing to sneeze a- Diamond tripped. Just like she said she would, the filly was suddenly tumbling head over hooves down the hill, resembling a bright silver ball of sorts.

Only she wasn't stopping.

She was still accelerating, bouncing and tumbling along at a breakneck speed, and continued forward after rolling right towards the direction of Everfree forest. She would have kept going, Scootaloo realized, if not for the trees which very promptly aided in her deceleration. She slammed into one with a particularly jarring crash, sending dozens of leaves fluttering down, and startled birds fluttering up and a very liberal application of glowing sparkles all around her like somepony had set off a glitter bomb.

Immediately, Scootaloo was atop her scooter, shooting down the grassy hill towards the spot Diamond had collided with the trees. Diamond had gotten up, sort of, wobbling back and forth as she tried to walk straight. She failed, tried again, failed again, and finally decided to stop trying to walk altogether.

"That, was, AWESOME! Also, are you okay?" Scootaloo cheered. Diamond gave a weak smile and waggled a hoof in her direction. Sort of. Well, one of the Scootaloos anyway.

"T-Taaaa-daaaaa. Hahahaha. See? S-see...I...I...Imgonnathrowup!" she squeaked, turning away from the other filly to yak into the grass to her side.

"How in Equestria did you learn to do that?! Was it one of Luna's boons she gave you?" she asked. Diamond looked over, grinned meekly and tried to reach out for Scootaloo's shoulder. Missed. Tried again. Missed again and finally, settled for just trying to sit upright.

"Naw. F-far as I can tell, it's innate. I think? Also, w-why are, why are there four of you?"

"You hit that tree really hard. There is literally an imprint of your face in the bark,"

"Really? That's prett-urp-hangon," she squeaked, turning to dry heave at the grass behind her. Scootaloo winced. She had expected Diamond to simply be lying to her again, her reluctance over tripping an easy out for a called bluff. This was quite the opposite of what she was expecting, or wanted.

"Can you walk?"

"No,"

"What if I helped?"

"That'd be cool,"

"So, you can just, shoot off whenever you want? How fast can you go? Do you just keep getting faster and faster the longer you do it? Can you dodge arrows with it? How'd you figure out you can run so fast?" Scootaloo asked, the questions suddenly coming faster than she could stop them. Diamond seemed to take it all in stride though, a lofty grin perched upon her glazed lips.

"No, I can't really feel it. It just sorta happens? I think? Sometimes it doesn't work, sorta like my night vision. I think my brain tries to trigger it, but my legs don't always get the signal. Ain't got no clue how fast I get, cause, usually I aim at something, so I only use it in short bursts, although, I probably could dodge an arrow. I learned I could while I was coming up with moves to show Princess Luna," Diamond announced proudly, wobbly walking alongside Scootaloo, who held a wing out to help keep her steady.

"I'm sorry I doubted you. Scootaloo paused thoughtfully. "About that," she quickly added.

"S'cool. I'm sorry I hit that tree, it would have been a lot awesomer if I didn't,"

"It was still pretty cool,"

"I ain't real good at it see? And I ain't so great at turning,"

"You can't turn?"

"I can't turn,"

"I bet you could with some practice!"

"I bet I could with a working nervous system, too,"

"Ah. Right. So, um, are you gonna be okay?"

"Sure, sure. I'll be fine, soon as the world stops spinning. It is spinning a lot.

"Do you wanna sit back down?"

"No, I'm fine, I think? Maybe? Yes, the answer is yes,"

"Are you gonna die?"

"I'd be extremely mad if I was killed by a tree,"

"Would you haunt the tree?"

"I would so haunt that tree,"

"Hahaha, you're just..."

"What?"

"You are simultaneously a little more awesome and a little more irritating every time I see you,"

"Would you call me a Diamond in the rough?"

"Absolutely not,"

"Aww come on! That one was funny!"

"It's four am. It is too early for bad jokes,"

"How about good jokes?"

"That'd be fine if you had any,"

"All of my jokes are good, Scootaloo,"

"Then you have a very selective audience,"

"Only my best friends,"

"Lucky me,"

"You say that like there aren't others,"

"Are there?"

"Nah. Only you make the trip out here at hours most ponies wouldn't dream of being awake,"

"Well, yeah. Who else would make wishes with me and talk about flying stuff nopony else would get? "

"So this is group therapy then?"

"That depends, does it help?"

"Knowing there's another pegasus out there like me? Yeah. Sorta does,"

"Sorta?"

"Well, I mean, I still can't fly and spend most of my time plummeting,"

"At least you can get up there,"

"And I'd really like to stay up there,"

"One day,"

"Someday,"

"I'll catch you in the clouds,"

"And I'll see you in the sky."

"G'night D."

"G'night, Scoots,"

Night 11

Diamond Dancer was not on Horlick's Hill when Scootaloo had arrived, which, while odd, was not something completely out of the ordinary for her. Perhaps she'd been summoned by princess Luna for an important errand, or perhaps she was still wandering through Everfree on one of her 'missions' to collect flowers that only grew at night and deep in the dense forest. Or perhaps she simply forgot. But the last idea was borderline preposterous. Diamond would never miss the opportunity to talk about her favorite thing in the whole wide world: stars.

The little orange pegasus quietly trekked up the side of the hill to its summit and surveyed the area. There. A flash of light near the Everfree forest. Even with a pegasus's eyesight, the darkness obscured most of her vision, but every few moments or so, Scootaloo caught sight of a bright flash, and the silhouette of a small filly within it. That was her alright. Scootaloo gripped her scooter tightly and revved her wings, launching herself down the hill at rocket speed and made a bee-line for the silver filly in the distance. As she got closer, Diamonds actions became clearer and clearer, and yet, still puzzling to say the least. The girl was slamming her head into the trunk of a tree, over and over and over again. Was she practicing? Training herself for brutal combat against the more sinister denizens of Everfree? Did a crystal pegasus with nearly unbreakable crystallized skin really need to practice for combat?

"DAZZLING DASH!! DAZZLING DASH!! DAZZLING DASH!!" Diamond yelled, each exclamation punctuated with a burst of unnatural speed and a glittering explosion of sparkles when she hit the tree. She'd flop down onto her tummy, climb back to her hooves and rear back to do it again. Scootaloo winced. Diamond often liked to brag about 'fighting monsters' in Everfree forest, and often spoke of her 'Dazzling Dash' as her go-to move for combat situations. But this didn't seem like a combat situation, nor did it seem like the tree presented any kind of threat and if Scootaloo had to guess, Diamond sounded angry. She liked to shout the names of her moves and listen to her voice echoing off the trees like some sort of superhero from comic books, but while her voice was usually loud and energetic, tonight it sounded frustrated.

Scootaloo watched quietly, not entirely sure if she should interrupt. Diamond reared back again and raced forward, flinging her body through the air and crashing into the tree with a jarring thump. This time when she got up she simply stood there, shoulders quivering and breathing heavily.

"What?" she snapped. Oh, yeah, she sounded mad. She hadn't turned towards Scootaloo but addressed her anyway. It was terribly difficult to sneak up on a pony with enhanced hearing. Scootaloo winced again and gently climbed off of her scooter.

"Uh...hey, D...You okay? You soun-" Scootaloo sputtered, but Diamond cut her off, violently shaking her head.

"I'm fine," she growled. She reared back and charged forward again. This time there was not a vibrant flash of light when she charged towards the tree, no unnatural burst of speed and no explosion of glitter when she collided. She crawled back to her hooves and trudged over to Scootaloo, her face stained with streaks that glistened in the moonlight. Had she been crying?

"Well, it's Friday. We usually hang out on Horlicks right about now. I was up there and saw you down here and thought you looked a little upset, so, I figured maybe if you wanted to talk..." Scootaloo cooed quietly. Diamond reached a hoof up to rub at her nose and sniffled.

"N-no. I'm fine. I'm...I'm... fine. H-hey Scootaloo, my wings ain't ugly, right? I- I mean they're...fine, right? They're fine. They're still silver, ain't they?" The crystal filly squeaked suddenly, turning towards Scootaloo with watery eyes. Scootaloo paused for a moment before she nodded her head.

"Yeah. Yeah they're fine! Cooler than mine! I mean, silver wings are awesome! They shine in the light and-" Scootaloo paused, noticing Diamond struggling to keep her emotions in check. She frowned and slowly sat down on the grass in front of the other girl.

".......Who said your wings were ugly?" she asked quietly. Scootaloo was no stranger to pent up rage. The kind that spilled out into angry tears like the ones Diamond was holding back right now. She knew what caused those all to well. The filly before her hiccuped and rubbed her eyes, doing her best to find what composure she could.

"Nopony. They're just dumb," Diamond huffed. Bitterly. Scootaloo frowned. Diamond often liked to tell tall tales. She embellished her exploits often, and exaggerated her feats of bravery and skill, but here? Now? Scootaloo could tell Diamond was lying though her teeth. She could hear it in the forced responses and held back anguish. Scootaloo nodded her head quietly. Maybe a change of subject was in order.

"Hey, how was your trip to Cloudsdale today? Did you make it? You said Luna was sending you up there to fetch her some sort of tea?" Scootaloo asked, scanning Diamonds face. The girl winced as if panged by a sudden bad memory but nodded her head.

"Asperitas," Diamond said quietly, reaching a hoof up to rub at her nose again. "I...I hate that place so much..." she sputtered, her voice trembling as she spoke. Scootaloo quietly nodded her head again. She'd suspected her trip to the city in the sky had something to do with all of this, but she didn't know Diamond actually hated Cloudsdale. They always talked about going up there for a day trip. Had Diamond been lying when she said she wanted to visit with her? She didn't need to pry though. The dam was about ready to break anyhow. Diamond was quivering before her, her lower lip trembling despite how hard she was desperately trying to hold onto her brash, indestructible persona. She was supposed to be invincible!

"T-the ponies up there is so mean, Scoots. T-they just stare. They all stare at me. I know my wings are all messed up, and I can't fly straight, I know! I-I know. They don't have to stare at them, they don't have to stare, Scoots. I know they're black and ugly, and, and stupid, and, I-I can't do anything about them, I can't. I-I can't. I want to, I tried, really, but I can't. A-and everything up there is so pretty and lovely and c-colorful, and I'm not, and I know I'm not, and, and I ha-have to go up there and, be all ugly and, and there's this girl there, Treasure, and she always, always makes fun of me. She won't let me forget that, th-that I'm all messed up. She won't let me forget, Scoots, and...and...and...and..." Diamond hiccuped, gasping for air as her belly convulsed and her voice got higher and higher still. She wouldn't cry in front of Scootaloo. She would NOT cry in front of Scootaloo. She was stronger than that. She really was. She knew that she was. She was invincible! She was not going to cry. She wouldn't. She couldn't.

She did.

Scootaloo drew in a breath and let it out through her teeth, forcing down raising anger she could feel burning inside of her. She nodded her head but remained seated, watching Diamond promptly turn away with shuddering shoulders and a trembling chest, sobbing silently in the darkness. By the mare in the moon, why was she such a loser? How could she burst into tears in front of Scootaloo like that? There was no way Scootaloo would want to hang out with her anymore after this. How could she?

"I used to get into fights all the time. At the drop of a hat. They made fun of my wings, too. Being too small. Not being able to fly. The works. Ponies like that usually suck. But does Treasure get to work for the Princess? Does Treasure have a magic star around her neck? Does Treasure get to go on cool adventures and then come back and hang out on Horlick's Hill and tell her best friend all about them? Pah! I doubt it." Scootaloo huffed, slowly starting to pace back and forth behind Diamond.

"I don't know what Treasure is like, but she can't be all that cool, because she's not the 'Night's Errant!' That's YOUR title that Luna gave to you not her. She doesn't get to have it. Does she get to hang out with Princess Luna? I know I haven't ever seen her around Canterlot, cause if I did, I'd have probably kicked her teeth in," Scootaloo continued. Diamond lurched slightly. Scootaloo grinned.

"And what makes her such a 'treasure' anyway? Is she just a talking box of gold coins? Are the coins giving you trouble, Diamond, cause I know an arcade where we can uh...get rid of 'em, if ya know what I mean," Scootaloo said. She'd managed to get closer to Diamond while she was talking, and gently elbowed the girl in the side. This time, Diamond gave a snort, trying not to giggle. She was too distraught to giggle, but Scootaloo was making that a difficult feat to accomplish. Gently, Scootaloo wrapped a foreleg around the smaller filly and squeezed her against her side.

"And your wings are only blackened like that because you have Icarus Syndrome, right? You flew up way to high for way too long and you got sick, right? And you only got sick because you did that during some stamina competition to win money for a friend, right? A friend who was in the hospital and needed treatment, right? And that's how you got your cutie-mark right? Correct me if I'm wrong?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond quietly nodded her head with another hiccup. Scootaloo nodded, a grin gently creeping along her lips.

"So, allllll this?" Scootaloo asked, lifting one of Diamond's darkened forelegs. "Allll this is proof that you're all kinds of awesome. It's a medal. I mean, look at you! You like stars right? DD, your legs and wings are black like the night sky, and YOU are silver like a star in that sky! Stretch your limbs out, and YOU are a seven-pointed star! You can even grant wishes?! Now how cool is that?!" Scootaloo barked. Diamond cocked her head to the side, reaching up to tend to her tears with a hoof. She'd never thought of it that way before. Yeah. YEAH! She WAS a star! She sniffled again before twisting around and wrapping her legs tightly around Scootaloo's shoulders.

"C-can we still hang out?" she whimpered. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"Duh," she whispered quietly.

"You wanna go look at stars on Horlick's?" Diamond sniffled. Scootaloo nodded her head and gestured to her scooter.

"Hop on. I'll give you a ride," she smiled. Diamond smiled too. And they were off.

Night 12

Diamond was lounging on the branch above her, listening to the crickets serenade and watching the cosmos drifting above them. Diamond always seemed to have a wistful, far away gaze when she stared up at the heavens, one that screamed of longing. For what, Scootaloo didn't know, but she imagined it was something beyond the reach of the shooting star she wore around her neck. The orange Pegasus had settled down on a branch just underneath her, their conversation having faded into silence some time ago. Scootaloo couldn't even remember what they'd been talking about, but it really didn't matter very much. She (like Diamond) had both lost their concentration at the sudden appearance of a bright flicker of light dancing across the sky. It was a shooting star of course, and after a hasty wish for flight, they let their attention dip into the blackness above them.

"Hey...D?" Scootaloo called. The other pegasus didn't move from her spot. She simply lay there, limp against the branch, staring into the void.

"Sup?" answered a lazy voice. Scootaloo sat up a little taller where she was resting.

"I've been wonderin' something. You said you were cursed, right? Like, it's in your blood or something? If you wanna talk about it, I'm just wondering, what exactly are you cursed to do?" Scootaloo asked hesitantly. Diamond shifted overhead and gave a mournful sigh. Instantly, Scootaloo regretted the question, regardless of the fact that it had been burning on her tongue for some time now. Ever since Diamond had mentioned it in passing one day, it had bounced around in her head. Cursed? Was that still a thing? Could ponies still be cursed in this day and age?

"Live," Diamond muttered quietly. Scootaloo perked her ears. Live? That was a curse?

"Live? I don't get it. You're cursed to live? You're immortal?" she asked. She couldn't hide the skepticism in her voice. She doubted Diamond would exaggerate about something like this, but that couldn't have been all there was to it.

"That's about the size of it, Also, my blood is black and caustic, but, yeah, live is the main thing, Icarus Syndrome was killing me, and in order to preserve my crystal skin for itself, that thing cursed me to 'life'," the filly squeaked, only a hint of bitterness riding her voice. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't really seem like much of a curse..." she pointed out. Diamond shook her head, but her gaze didn't divert from the stars.

"I live. I am ageless. I don't get any bigger than this. I don't grow any older than this. I am forever ten. I get to watch my friends die. I get to watch my brother die. I get to watch any pony I ever cared about die. I get to watch you die. What I don't get, is to date. Nopony falls in love with a ten-year-old. I don't get to fall in love. I don't get to have foals of my own. I don't get to be a mom. I don't get to do anything that adults get to do. I don't ever get to taste anything. I never get to smell anything. I never get to feel anything. I will never be able to fly properly. I will be stuck in this ailing, failing body, on the very brink of death, forever. A life long pass of teasing because I've got these dumb spots all over me and wings that don't work," the filly groaned. Scootaloo winced quietly, her ears folding back against her skull. When she put it like that...

"Geez, D, I didn't realiz-" Scootaloo attempted to apologize, but now that she'd opened the door, the rest wouldn't stay in. Diamond cut her off with a quiet groan.

"And the thing that cursed me? That nightmare monster thing? It ain't done with me. Ha. Oh, no, one day, it'll come back, and grab my body and eat my soul. It'll rifle through my memories like a card index, and murder everypony I know, if they haven't died of old age, first. I get a front-row seat to the slaughter and there ain't nothin' I can do about it, other than watch. Any friends I do make? I will kill. Anypony that gets close to me will die. I will be alone. Forever. Ain't that a kick in the tail?" Diamond huffed quietly. Scootaloo could feel a whimper building in her throat, and the unmistakable desire to hug the filly above her as tightly as possible. Diamond, however, was too wrapped up in her own persona to accept such a thing though. No, she'd throw Scootaloo off and spout some nonsense about being a fierce warrior of the night who was to tough for 'hugs.'

"...So...Why don't you get Luna to uncurse you? I mean, she can, can't she? She's really powerful, so I bet if you asked her, she..." Scootaloo asked quietly but let her voice trail off when Diamond scoffed again.

"Sure. Sure. She would if she could. But we'd need to find the nightmare that did it first. It sulked off under a rock somewhere. And even if she found it, even if she killed it, the moment that curse is lifted, I die from Icarus Syndrome anyway. Maybe a coupla days. Maybe in a coupla minutes, who knows. I become just a number in a medical book. A statistic and I ain't gonna make Luna deal with that. Luna gots enough to deal with and don't need the death of no filly on her consciousness. Ain't gonna even go there," Diamond murmured, her voice soft and trembling ever so slightly with a mix of sorrow and rage.

"...I didn't...Aww, geez, D...I'm...I'm so sorry, that sounds...that sounds horrible," Scootaloo squeaked. Above her, Diamond waved a hoof and gave a quiet snort.

"Naw. It's fine. See, the way I figure it: I gots a shootin' star, right? It grants wishes, so eventually, I'll come across a wish that'll fix everything, and that'll be that. I mean, I've got the time. I bet I can understand how it works eventually. Maybe I can use it to figure out a way to cure Icarus Syndrome too! At least before that thing comes back for me. Luna says Icarus Syndrome can't be cured, since I'm trapped in some sorta, state of suspended animation, whatever that means, and doctors ain't got a clue how to undo what it did So I'm thinkin' it must be magic right? And since the star is magic, I figure there's a solution there. I find it, I fix it, yadda yadda yadda, I get to live a normal life. Easy peasy. I'm just, heh, not quite sure what to wish for yet. In the meantime, Luna's got me runnin round fetchin' stuff for her. I'll ride that as long as I can. And she said she's lookin for a solution, too, so I got an ancient alicorn goin' through eons of knowledge trying to find a cure for lil ole' me. Hehehe, I'll be fine," Diamond chuckled nervously. She waved a hoof again, as if batting away some miserable sensation attempting to prey on her and shook her head.

"Sides, if it never comes back for me, and I ain't find no cure I get to have a coupla eons hangin' out with Luna. How many of her subjects can say THAT?! HA! Better up than down, right?" Diamond murmured sadly. Scootaloo nodded her head, forcing a quiet smile. 'Better up than down' was an old pegasus saying, that basically equated to 'Always look on the bright side of things' Was that how Diamond kept going? Was that how she kept her spirits up? Unwavering faith in Luna's ability to save her? Scootaloo supposed if she had an Alicorn goddess looking out for her, she'd feel pretty confident too.

"Hey! What's the first thing you're gonna do when you finally get better?" Scootaloo grinned. Diamond shifted above her and chuckled softly.

"Find somethin' ta eat! I can sorta remember taste, but it ain't really something that you can experience unless you experience it! I've always wanted to try chocolate! Oh, oh, oh! And smell something! Luna keeps havin' me pick these flowers that only grow at night in Everfree right? They're black and purple and red! They're so pretty! I've always wondered what they smelled like. And, uh...ya know...tween you n' me, I kinda sorta wanna feel one of Bardigan's hugs. Just once. A big brother hug from him would be...kinda the greatest thing ever. But I wouldn't make that no habit or nothing. Got my reputation to keep up! I'm a warrior of the night! A servant of Shadow! We, do not, 'hug,'" Diamond explained. Everything suddenly went dark. Scootaloo blinked her vision back, reaching up to rub the bridge of her nose. Her eyes had rolled themselves to the back of her skull.

"You know, I bet you'd like hay burger! They got this tofu meal that's just the best!" Scootaloo pipped cheerfully. Diamond twisted around to peer down at the orange pegasus with a bright smile.

"Alright then, but only after we race around Cloudsdale! I, am an undefeated, undisputed champion of speed!" Diamond grinned. Scootaloo blinked her vision back again. Good lord, if this kept up she'd go blind.

"Uh huh. Well, if that's the case, I get a head start. It's only fair. And no super speed!" she groaned. Diamond gave an annoyed grunt and reached her hooves up to run through the blue spikes that jut from her head.

"Of COURSE I'm gonna use Super Speed, ain't my fault you'se ain't got it!"

"Aren't you afraid of tripping again?"

"ON WHAT?! Ain't nothin' to trip on up there!"

"And yet, I'm positive you'll find a way,"

"Not when I've got a workin' nervous system I won't! Jus you watch! I used to be super duper agile when I was learning tricks n' stuff. I mean, muscle memory works well enough, but jus you wait till I can do the real thing!" Diamond chipped. Scootaloo wrinkled her brow thoughtfully.

"Hey...D? You're a Crystal Pony, right? You think after you get all fixed up, you'll become transparent like the rest of them?" Scootaloo pondered. Diamond cocked her head thoughtfully.

"Kay, honestly, I'm gonna afraid of that. I mean, can you imagine looking down and seeing through yourself? Would I see my own organs? What if one of them got all messed up from Icarus Syndrome? I'd freak out n' stuff! I don't wanna see what's goin' on in there! That's gross!" Diamond squeaked. Scootaloo laughed.

"Well, none of the other Crystal Ponies seem to have that problem, maybe you won't either?" Asked the lower pegasus.

"Yeah, maybe one day I'll actually get to visit the Crystal Empire again and ask 'em myself. I wanna learn more about my tribe. Maybe I can track down where I came from, I might be able to find my parents. Long shot, yeah, but it ain't like I got all that many leads to begin with. I don't find nothing, I don't find nothing. No big deal. But if I find something, well it'll all be worth it, now won't it? Sides, there are other reasons I wanna go there too. I wanna try some crystal berries. I hear they're crunchy. I like crunchy stuff cause I can hear it when I eat it!" Diamond giggled quietly. She let out a lengthy sigh. Her entire life was made up of 'what if's and maybes."

"Why don't you ask Bardigan to take you up there?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond, again, shook her head.

"Naw. He's too busy workin' on scripts n' stuff. He's got this big holiday show he's putting on for the town this winter. Mayor Mare commissioned it herself and he's been workin on it non-stop. "Gotta get it juuuuust right," He says. "

"Aww, I bet you he'd take you if you asked him!"

"Yeah. He probably would, he's good like that. But I don't wanna bug him for stuff. I mean, he gave me a roof over my head and a room and adopted me, so I feel kinda weird asking him for even more things, especially to help me find my folks. What if he thinks he ain't good enough, or something? I'd feel super bad. He's like, the very best ever!" Diamond squeaked, flailing her hooves and nearly tumbling from the branch. She grabbed it tightly and pressed her belly against the wood.

"I'm sure he'd be cool with it! I mean, you just want to find out about Crystal Ponies, right? If you happen to find information about where your parents might have gone, that's just a bonus, right?"

"Hey...Hey yeah! Yeah, that's right! Oh, but I still don't wanna bug him. He gets really in the zone when he's working on a play. "

"Say, D, I got a question,"

"Yet another, shoot,"

"You're ten, right?"

"Last time I checked,"

"Well, I mean, the Crystal Empire only showed up a few years ago, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, you were living in Manehatten, then, right?"

"Uh huh, go on?"

"Well, how could you be living in Manehatten if the Crystal Empire only just appeared?"

"Ahh, that's an easy one. What, you don't think Crystal Ponies settled down in places other than the Empire? That'd be like saying you'd never see a pegasus unless they were in Cloudsdale! My ancestors probably moved away at some point in time to a different town and skipped the whole, Sombra Slavery thing. I mean, ponies don't just stay in one place,"

"Huh... that actually makes sense,"

"What I don't get is how I actually ended up in Manehatten, Did my parents live there or something?"

"Well, you didn't know you were a Crystal Pony until you went on that mission for Luna, right? When you visited the Empire the first time?"

"Right..."

"So, wouldn't finding your folks be as easy as tracking down Crystal Ponies living in Manehatten at the time?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond was silent, staring into the sky. Scootaloo cocked her head curiously.

"What? You think they got a directory of ponies or something? It ain't like they keep track of every pony who moves into the city. And it's a BIG city. Be like finding a needle in a haystack. Sides, if they were still in Manehatten, they ain't never come to visit me or nothing. I waited forever for them to come back. They never did. So ...It's...easy to think that they ain't there no more. I rather think they ain't there no more, ya know?

"...Yeah...I know..."

"...You hear from your mom lately?"

"Naw. She's always to busy to write,"

"Orphans of the sky, Scoots. We're orphans of the sky. A sky that don't want us up there. But you got your aunts, I got my brother. We carved ourselves a notch outta nothing. We're still here. We shouldn't be, but we are,"

"Well, yeah. We refuse to lose. Our wings don't work, but we've got hearts as strong as horses and we fly where others fall,"

"Ponies like you n' me? Those airheads up there ain't got nothin on us,"

"What time is it?"

"As far as changing topics, that was both abrupt and welcome. Geez, I dunno. Maybe three, maybe four?" Diamond mumbled. Scootaloo frowned and peered up at the lazy pegasus.

"Don't the Servants of Shadow have, like, internal clocks or something when it's night time?" She asked. Diamond shook her head.

"Only if we've got a moon dial. Why, you gonna run?"

'"Well, Aunt Lofty gets up to use the bathroom real late at night sometimes, and sometimes she pokes her head into my room to check on me. I gotta get back before that happens. But, hey, D?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll catch you in the clouds. "Scootaloo grinned.

"And I'll see you in the sky," Diamond said, smiling her bright silver smile.

Night 13

Scootaloo was there before her tonight, sitting silently under countless stars twinkling over head. Odd, Diamond thought, as she strolled along the path towards Horlick's Hill. Scootaloo rarely showed up before Diamond did, mostly due to the trek she had to take from town and the Aunt's she had to wait to go to sleep before she could sneak out of the house. The orange pegasus was leaning against the tree, hind legs kicked over one another and forelegs tucked under her hear while a lengthy piece of wheat bobbled from her lips, piercing the warm summer night.

"Heya Scoots! Aunts go ta bed early tonight?" Diamond called out boisterously making her way up the grassy hillside. Scootaloo let her gaze drift towards Diamond, and then back into the empty night sky, with only a subtle nod in the way of a response. Diamond frowned. Silence was a distinctly unusual answer for Scootaloo, and one that forced a eyebrow to arch on the silver filly. She tilted her head and crept closer, until she could sit comfortably down next to the other girl.

"...Scoots? You okay?" Diamond murmured, her voice softer now, as if Scootaloo's dismal response had also silenced Diamond's energy. The ground-bound pegasus glanced over again and gave a snort. Diamond winced.

"Uh...hey, Scoots, if I screwed up lemme know, ok? I mean, I ain't exactly, whadda call, uh, real used to this whole friendship, thing, but I-" Diamond began, hastily searching for whatever she could to draw out the friendlier side of Scootaloo's personality, but she was quickly silenced when Scootaloo quietly stood up, letting her gaze linger in the distance.

"Naw. You didn't do anything. Mom was supposed to write today. She didn't," Scootaloo growled. Oh. Diamond felt her ears wilt on either side of her head and her mood tank. Scootaloo's mother worked over seas. Ponyland, as Diamond was lead to believe, acting as some sort of ambassador for Equestria. Or something like that. Diamond never really pried, and Scootaloo never really offered up any information. Diamond, however, had managed to suss out that Scootaloo wasn't particularly pleased with her living situation and she couldn't blame her. Occasional cards and a letter every other month was a poor substitute for caring parents.

Diamond leaned back against the tree, letting silence weave its way between them. She didn't have to say anything. There was nothing to say. She could feel the quiet anger racing through Scootaloo, the same anger she sometimes felt when contemplating the reason her own mother had left her behind. The same, trembling, horrible rage that bitterly wrapped around a ponies tongue and turned sputtered tears into vicious hate.

Scootaloo glared her bitter glare into the warm night sky and spit the wheat from her lips. Her wings splayed out, closed, and splayed again, all within span of a few short seconds. Despite her twisted visage of a snarl, she didn't say a word, but the trembling frame and heckled fur spoke in volumes.

"She promised she'd make the trip to come see me if I got all A's on my report card this semester, D. She promised. Where is she? Huh?! Where is she?! She's not here! I don't see her! I did it. I worked my tail off but I did it and she isn't here! She couldn't even write me a lousy letter?! What's it supposed to take?! WHAT?! Scootaloo barked into the night.

The night did not reply. Scootaloo heft a rock in her hooves and chucked it as hard as she could into the empty darkness before her, where it vanished out of view into a blanket of black. There was no answer, despite how badly she wanted to force one to appear.

"WELL!?" she screamed, hoarsely, her voice carrying into the far reaches of the night and echoing into nothingness. Had there been any answer to offer, Diamond would have happily piped in, but she was silent in her observation, unable to do anything but watch the rage bubble to the surface and spill over into frothing despair. Scootaloo had picked up another rock and hurled it as hard as she could into the air, watching it sail miserably into a grassy hillside where it vanished. Her anger did not travel with it.

"Why would you have foals if you didn't want to spend time with them?! If your stupid work was so important, why have me at all?! Was I a mistake?! Was it because they loved each other SO much that they couldn't keep themselves off each other?! WHY CAN'T THEY TOSS ME A LITTLE OF THAT?! AM I JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH?!" Scootaloo barked. The night was cruelty in its finest form, echoing Scootaloo's questions back with a deafening silence that rang endlessly in her ears.

The orange pegasus tumbled back into a sitting position, crumpling under the weight of her own misery. Was a letter really so much to ask? Was the job so demanding that her parents couldn't bothered to remind her that they loved her. That they cared? That they even remembered?

"They weren't here for my Cutie-mark. They weren't here for my Cute-ceañera. They weren't here to protect me when the Changelings invaded. They weren't here when we got to wave the flag for the Equestrian Games, they weren't...Where are...WHATS SO IMPORTANT? WHY WEREN'T THEY HERE?!! DID I MESS UP?! I'M SORRY!! I'M SORRY ALREADY!!! JUST- JUST COME BACK!" Scootaloo shrieked to an indifferent sky, the raging inferno of her anger melting down into a smoldering flicker. She blinked back tears, and flinched at the sensation of a warm silver wing wrapping snugly around her shoulders. She didn't fight it. She couldn't. She sighed and let the other filly's embrace wash over her.

"...Why don't they want me, D? Wha'd I do?" she mumbled into the blackened silver wings. Diamond shook her head quietly.

"Couldn't tell ya, but I'm guilty of the same crime, ya know? Maybe there ain't no crime. Maybe there ain't no answer. Maybe we didn't do nothin wrong and maybe the world just sucks. Or, maybe we're lucky," Diamond pipped. Scootaloo perked an ear.

"...what?" she asked sullenly. Diamond forced a smile.

"Well, yeah! See, ways I figure it, all them ponies in Ponyville, right? They got's parents. Parents got foals. Right? Right. But us? We ain't gots no parents, but what we got is ponies that still care about us. Really and truly. I gots my brother, Bardigan, you'se gots your sister, Rainbow Dash. We ain't blood and that's ok. Thats even BETTER, cause they ain't stuck with us like all them parents with all them foals. They PICKED us. They looked at us and said "Yeah, those fillies, those fillies get our love, and no others. They came ta -US- and decided we was better than all them other fillies out there and we get to be part of their lives. Not cause they gotta be, but cause they wanna be! Ain't no pony forcin' em ta be there for us, they wanna be there cause they recognize how awesome we is! My mom. Pffft, she don't gots no idea what she's missin out on, but Bardy? Yeah, Bardigan got ta be there when Luna added me to the Night Court. Mom ain't never gonna know THAT joy, but he got to experience it with me. Rainbow Dash? She chose ta be you'se sister, and guess what? She got to share one of the most important parts of you'se life with you, cause she wanted to. Cause she realized how awesome it would be ta be apart of you'se life! Scoots, you n' me? We all kinds of awesome, and only special ponies recognize it! The kinda ponies that you'se want in your life! The kind of ponies we is lucky enough ta have!! Bardy says family ain't whatcha are, it's whatcha do," Diamond squawked. Slowly, Scootaloo tilted her head to the side, peering at the silver filly thoughtfully.

"...You're full of it," She said quietly, leaning back against the grassy hillside. Diamond sighed and lay down next to her.

"But you're not wrong, either," Scootaloo offered after a moment. "My big sister is a Wonder-bolt, an Element of Harmony, a Savior of Equestria a dozen times over and a member of the Court of Friendship. Your brother is a world famous playwright who gets invited to write shows for royalty. Both of them choose us to be apart of their world, and that makes us pretty special, doesn't it?" She asked. Diamond beamed.

"Sure does! And, like, you'se got two other ponies that got your back, all the time, like sisters you know?" Diamond grinned. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"Pffft, yeah they're cool, but lets not forget you are the errand girl for a literal God. If somepony messed with you, Luna would be the ultimate 'mom' to tattle to. The next day, that pony would cease, to, be." Scootaloo giggled.

"Ha! So, Scoots, it's like, almost one in the mornin! We got the whole night ahead of us, whadda wanna do?" Diamond asked a now cheerful Scootaloo. The orange pegasus rubbed her chin thoughtfully before she pointed into the distance.

"You wanna see if we can find Will-o-Wisps in Froggy Bottom Bog?" she asked. Diamond's face lit up.

"Hey, yeah! That sounds like fun! Race you?"

"You're on!!"

And with that, the two fillies sped off into the night.

Night 15

There was a warmth to the breeze that night, the sort of warmth that felt like a cozy hug and beset long lasting memories of summer sweetness. It always seemed warm up on the hill, even under the chilly gaze of the overbearing moon. A bright moon with bright stars that seemed to shine specifically down onto Horlick's Hill where Scootaloo parked her scooter.

Another Friday night, another two am rendezvous. Diamond was there before her this time, sitting up under the tree, gazing at the display of jewels overhead. She had missed last weeks get together, which Scootaloo had chalked up to a mission from Luna. Seeing her tonight, though, pulled a quiet smile to her lips, and she trotted over where she took a seat beside the other filly.

"Heya, D. How's it goin!" Scootaloo asked. Diamond didn't reply. Scootaloo frowned and peered over at her companion. Now that she was closer, Diamond didn't look so good. She had heavy bags under her eyes and was slowly swaying from side to side where she sat. Her mane was frizzled and frazzled, sticking out oddly, unlike the spiky mohawk she usually wore it in. She smiled quietly in return but kept her glossy gaze pointed at the sky.

"H-hey...hey there...uh.....uh.....um....uh..." she trailed off, waggling a hoof as she looked for the word dangling on the tip of her tongue. Scootaloo felt her frown thicken as Diamond searched for her name. This was abnormal, even by Diamond's standards.

"...Scootaloo," she said quietly. Diamond immediately smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah! Right. Yeah! Scootaloo. That's her! She's my buddy. We hang out n' stuff, I'm jus waitin' here for her to show up so we can....can uh....do...the...um....stars. Right. Right! We look at stars. It's kinda our thing," Diamond explained, still swaying where she sat, still smiling aimlessly. Scootaloo felt her eyebrow raise. It had been doing that a lot lately, and almost felt like a habit now. Slowly, she reached a hoof out and waved it in front of Diamond's face. The filly's expression did not change.

"Uh, Diamond? I'm right here," Scootaloo said quietly. Slowly, Diamond let her gaze drift down from the stars towards the orange pegasus. Her face lit up brightly.

"Hiya Scoots! Where ya been? I've been here since...since uh......what is...where are...say, what time is it?"

"It's two in the morning,"

"Right, right. Yeah, hey, how ya doin? I was just chillin' up here, on, the ...the uh...the um...the hill...this hill...doin' the star thing, heh," Diamond chuckled softly. She squeezed her eyes shut, yawned, and then shook her head briskly. Worriedly, Scootaloo nodded her head, but didn't let her gaze pull from Diamond.

"I'm fine. How are you? Cause I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say maybe not 'good'?"

"Wha? Me? Psssht, naw, naw. Naaaaw. I'm good. Super good. Super duper. I'm great! Just, the best! The very bestest. Yup! One hundred percent! Nothin's wrong, and, I'm just...I'm..the uh...the...the um......huh. Wait, wait, what was I talkin' about again?" Diamond asked quietly. Scootaloo's other eye brow began to raise, since one clearly wasn't enough.

"I have both questions and concerns," she said quietly. Diamond yawned again, and waggled a dismissive hoof.

"What? Ha. No. No. I already had breakfast tonight. Bardigan packed me a lunch. I told him I didn't need no lunch, but he insisted, cause he's all like "You need to remember to eat tonight, Lil' Gem." and I'm like "Pssst, I'm a warrior of the night! I don't need no stinkin' badge!" Diamond explained. Scootaloo stared. She stared hard.

"Alrighty then. Sooooooo question one, have you been to sleep lately?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond's expression didn't change. She stared into the distance for a few moments before finally nodding her head.

"Hahaha. Nope! Not in a while, why?"

"...No reason. Aren't you tired? I mean, I know Servants of Shadow can stay up real late but...you look...kinda rough," Scootaloo whimpered. Diamond immediately shook her head. Hard enough to make her ears flap from side to side.

"No, no, I'm...I'm uhm...I'm good. I'm just...I'm ducky. So, hey, stars right? You think we're gonna see any? I hope so. It'd be great, doncha think?" Diamond squeaked. Scootaloo bit at her lower lip. Diamond was lying. She was positive of it.

"Uh...Maybe...you wanna lie down for a-"Scootaloo began, but Diamond cut her off.

"NO!!! I- I mean, I'm...Ha, I'm good. I'm good. Just fine. Don't need no sleep, I'm a Servant of...of the thing...and we don't go to sleep ..."Diamond said, her voice trailing off. Scootaloo couldn't help but to detect something else underneath her voice, something that screamed of misery. She drew in a quiet breath and steeled herself.

"Hey, D...How long have you been up? Like, real talk?" She asked quietly. Diamond was staring into space again, her glossy gaze pointed at the sky. At first, when she didn't respond, Scootaloo thought she'd need to ask the question again, since it seemed like Diamond's concentration had become non-existent, and it was then that the silver filly let out a lengthy sigh, and Scootaloo knew something was wrong.

"Since last week," Diamond murmured sullenly. Scootaloo furrowed her brow. That couldn't possibly have been healthy. The crystal filly yawned again and swayed where she sat, before she reached up and rubbed at her eyes.

"Why haven't you been to sleep, Diamond? That's not really, err, that's not too good for you, is it? Is this a Servants thing? Like a test of some kind?" She cooed quietly. Diamond shook her head.

"Naw. I just...I don't...have a...I wanted...to um...You know that mission we did? Like, a week ago, or sumthin? There was a...a uh...we um...we uh....I can't remember what it was that we did..." Diamond whimpered. Scootaloo nodded her head.

"You said you had to check in on some filly named Starlight. We almost got caught, and we ran away," Scootaloo offered. Diamond nodded her head.

"Right, ri-ri-right. Yeah, so...I...I was pretty sure that it was her mom that caught us, and uh..I um... I realized I haven't had a dream about mine in a while. So, Princess Luna, usually....usually um...she uh...she um...um..." Diamond sputtered, waving a hoof in front of her mouth, as if attempting to draw the sentence out into the air. After a few moments, her face took on a bewildered look and she gazed into space. Scootaloo leaned over and waved a hoof in front of Diamond's nose. This time, the filly jumped back with a gasp.

"Right, right. Sorry, she um...Where was I?" she asked softly. Scootaloo sighed.

"Princess Luna...?"

"Right! Right. So, um, Princess Luna usually voids my dreams for me. I don't dream, cause usually...they're not 'good'. I wake up screaming. Doctors, and...falling...I forget where I am, and it's always nightmares...The worst one is my mom. She's galloping somewhere, and I'm behind her, and I call out to her and she can't...she doesn't stop. I keep calling out to her, and I beg her not to leave me behind, but she doesn't hear me. And no matter how fast I run, she's always faster, I can't catch her, and it hurts so much, but it's the only time I ever get to see her, so, I, I asked um...I asked Princess ...um Princess... whats-her-face...er...t-the Princess to let me dream again...I wanted to see her, Scoots. Just a glimpse, ya know. Just...I mean... It's the only way I know how to see her. I didn't wanna feel...alone. I ain't got no kin here, see? I ain't, I ain't gots no kin anywhere. I'm the only crystal pony in town, and, and I can't gleam like they can, so I ain't really one of them, and I can't fly, cause, pegasuseses are supposed to do that, and I can't, and, I look like this...And sometimes it feels like...Like she might be the only one who could explain where I'm supposed to fit in, cause I ain't haven't much luck findin' it on my own, " Diamond sputtered, reaching up to rub her eyes again. Sadly, Scootaloo nodded her head and reached out to rest a hoof on the girl's shoulder.

"But, it's not, I mean it doesn't always work. Trying to dream about her, I mean. I've been, I just, I wake up after I just fall asleep, and it's just nightmares. Every time I close my eyes. Usually, they're worth it just to see her, but I haven't had any about her lately. So I...I just...I just um...I haven't...I haven't been sleepin' so good, ya know? And um, Luna said she'd void my dreams again if I asked her, but... I can't until I see her. It's the only way to make all of this worth it, and I...I keep telling myself it's worth it, but every time I fall asleep it's just another nightmare. So, I've been stayin' awake instead. I gotta recover a bit, see? I ain't handlin' these nightmares so good, not one after another after another, and I can't tell Princess Luna that this is happenin' cause she might not let me have dreams anymore, so, I'm...I'm...I'm uh...I don't...w-what was I saying again?" she squeaked, reaching up once more to rub her eyes. Scootaloo just nodded her head quietly.

"Voiding dreams. Why don't you ask Luna to make you dream about her?" she said. Diamond shook her head and reached up to slap herself in the face.

"N-no. I can't. That's, uh, n-not natural. I mean, I know what she looks like, I think, I mean, only the back of her head, you know, but it's still something, and anything Luna sculpted in a dream would be her interpretation of what my mother looks like, not...not the real thing my brain only kinda remembers," Diamond said, trembling where she sat. She reached up again and slapped herself in the face. Scootaloo winced. She wasn't quite sure what the point of something like that was when you couldn't feel pain, but she didn't try to stop her. Instead, she leaned back against the hillside and gazed at the stars.

"Well, how 'bout, I come over tomorrow morning, and you try for sleep tonight. If it doesn't work, we can hang out. I mean, if you're not sleeping anyway. I can show you around Ponyville and distract you from the aftermath if you do have another nightmare! How's that?" she asked. Diamond flashed an exhausted, wobbly smile and nodded her head.

"Yeah. Yeah that sounds, that sounds like a good idea. We could totally go....to....the um...the um...that thing...we were gonna do...right, you know any good coffee shops in town? I could use some coffee. I've always wanted to try it, I think, but Bardigan says I shouldn't have any. I heard it's good for keeping you awake though. See, I ain't so good at the whole, sleep on command, stay awake on command thing the other Servants do. They can stay awake for weeks on end n' stuff, see? I ain't so good at the whole, sleep on command, stay awake on command thing that the other Servants do. They can stay awake for weeks on end, 'n stuff, see?" Diamond explained. Scootaloo winced again. She was getting worse...

"You said that twice," she said hesitantly. Diamond tilted her head curiously.

"Said what twice? I don't remember what we...we were...um...um......uhhh...."Diamond stammered before staring off into space again. Scootaloo reached over and waved a hoof in front of her face. Diamond blinked twice and sat upright, snapping out of her daze.

"Oh, hey Scootaloo! Good to see you! Ho-How you doin? I was....I was....was I looking at stars? I don't remember. I think...um..question. I don't...I don't remember how I got here, where are we? " Diamond stammered. Scootaloo reached a hoof out and pulled Diamond in close to lean against her.

"Horlick's Hill. It's about three in the morning, and you just said you were going to go home and try to get some sleep," Scootaloo explained. Diamond meekly nodded her head.

"D-did I? That doesn't sound like somethin' I'd say. I'm...I'm a Servant of Shadow...I don't...I don't need to sleep. I don't need anything. I'm good. I'm good...I can't...I can't see, cause-"Diamond began, but Scootaloo cut her off, squeezing her foreleg around the other girl gently.

"Nightmares. I know. We just spent the last twenty minutes talking about them and how lonely you feel," she explained quietly. Diamond blinked her eyes in confusion, tilting her head at the orange pegasus next to her.

Did we? I guess that makes sense. I think. I've been losing an alarming amount of time lately, so...y-yeah. I guess I'm about due for another attempt at sleep. I don't really feel so good. Like, worse than normal. H-hey Scoots, you think I could get a ride? To...to um....to...where was I goin again?"

"We're goin' home, D. Don't worry, I've got you, just lean on me, okay?" Scootaloo said, eyeing her scooter at the bottom of the hill. Diamond smiled softly, the two of them slowly starting to hobble down the slope.

"You're kind of an awesome friend, you know that, Scoots?" Diamond sputtered, her voice slurred. Scootaloo could only assume she was coming up to the end of her resistance to sleep, if there was such a thing.

"Only cause you give me the chance to be one," She smiled, tugging Diamond along towards her scooter.

Night 16

Star-meets were fast becoming one of Scootaloo's favorite activities during the summer. Perhaps it was the warm night air, or maybe it was the absolute quiet of the evening. The intoxicating knowledge of not having school the next day vastly helped, of course, or maybe it was the slim chance that the stars over head might grant her wish and flight would become a reality. Whatever the reason, Scootaloo found herself racing down the road almost every Friday night, the rush of sneaking out of the house combined with the speed of her scooter whipping her mane behind her drove her to highs she'd never felt on the ground before and tonight was no different. Idly, Scootaloo caught herself wondering if perhaps Sweetie Belle or Applebloom might appreciate the majesty of the universe swirling above them in Luna's distant ebony canvas. Perhaps, but it felt somewhat special just to have it belong to her and Diamond. Their hill where they talked about their missing parents, and lack of flight, the hardships other ponies wouldn't get, and found solace to their loneliness. Something that, perhaps, might be lost to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.

Mulling over the concept, Scootaloo hopped off her scooter once she reached the base of the hill and climbed towards the summit, toting the vehicle along with her on her back as she climbed. From the top, she could catch some really great speed when it was time for her to go home, and the decent on her Scooter was always quite the rush. When she reached the top of the hill, there was no boisterous greeting, or cheerful squeak of excitement at seeing her. There was no silver smile, or sprayed sparkles of a 'Crystal Trick.' there was no Diamond Dancer. Scootaloo frowned. Had she forgotten? No. They always met at the top of the hill on Fridays. It was two am on the dot, and normally, Diamond would be waiting quietly for her under the tree at the top of the hill, where they made wishes and each other giggle under the starry night sky.

From the top of the hill, the tree overlooked Ponyville to the west, and to the east, the Everfree Forest. It was the forest, where Scootaloo caught sight of a flash of silver light. She knew that light: Diamond's contrail. Scootaloo winced, and shook her head, trying to wrench away the sensation of ice racing down her spine at that burst of light. Diamond's contrail only appeared behind her when she was going at a certain speed, or when she hit something particularly hard. The densely packed forest had too many trees in it to allow Diamond to speed along quickly for long periods of time, and since Diamond didn't have full control of her speed, that left Scootaloo with one conclusion: Diamond was hitting something hard. Or, something was hitting Diamond. Either way, Scootaloo found herself gripping her scooter tightly in her hooves, and making her way down the hill, rocketing towards that flashing light that burst through the trees. As she got closer, her ears perked, picking up new sounds that trickled through the roar of air racing by her ears. Sounds that forced Scootaloo to kick herself into gear, maneuvering her scooter as fast as she could go. Sounds that made more of those icy shivers race down her spine: Diamond was screaming.

"Get OFF of me! GET OFF! NO! I'M NOT GOING WITH YOU!! LET GO!! LET GO OF ME!!" came the shrill shriek from somewhere deeper in the woods. Diamond's voice. Scootaloo pulled up to the edge of the forest and stopped, gazing into the dusky gloom that blanket the trees. There. Another flash. To her left. Quietly, the little orange pegasus crept past the underbrush, making her way into the depths of the darkness. The flashes were coming from a place that wasn't terribly far in. Creeping closer, Scootaloo paused, her gaze grasping hold of something that didn't belong in there. A tiny wicker basket, overturned on the ground with a number of red and purple flowers spilled around it. It was Diamond's basket. The one she used when picking flowers for the princess in the depths of Everfree. One of Diamond's errands, as Scootaloo had come to understand it, was to collect flowers for Luna. Ones she used to collect herself in the forest, when the Princesses resided in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Quietly, Scootaloo stepped around it and continued on, where another flash beckoned her, and more screams rang out into the indifferent trees.

"I SAID NO! I SAID NO!! LEGGO OF ME! I SAID LEGGO!!" More screams. More cries. Scootaloo crept closer still, keeping herself low against the foliage and only paused when she reached a tiny grove of trees. Well, more accurately, she paused when she caught sight of what was in that tiny grove of trees.

Scootaloo had never actually 'seen' Diamond Dancer in action before. For all the bragging she'd done, the little ten year old had never once made any attempt to drag Scootaloo on one of her missions where something like 'combat' might be taking place. Surely, Scootaloo had imagined, that all of Diamond's tall-tales about fighting Timber Wolves and various monsters of the forest were simply that: tall-tales. Surely, Scootaloo imagined, that Diamond would go fleeing at the first sign of 'actual' danger. Sadly, Scootaloo discovered, neither of those things proved true. The little crystal filly was laying on her back, kicking a hind leg wildly at a Timber wolf. A much larger ragged monster, made up of dark forest magic, and logs and twigs. It had managed to grasp onto one of Diamond's hind legs, and was currently dragging her deeper into the forest. They must have been scuffling before hand, because Diamond was a mess. Her fur was in shambles, her mane stuck out in multiple directions and she was covered in dirt. Scattered around the clearing were numerous sticks and twigs, twisted branches and gnarled logs of wood. More Timber Wolves, Scootaloo realized, but ones that had somehow been dismantled. The one dragging Diamond, however, seemed undisturbed by the 'corpses' surrounding them, and more interested in taking Diamond back to its den. Diamond, however, offered protest in the form of a wild frenzy of kicks. The creature didn't seem to notice, or simply did not care, doing its best to pull the young filly into the darkness. Diamond refused, trying to turn over onto her belly and crawl away, but the beast was much stronger than she was.

At first, Scootaloo's instincts told her to offer assistance. To race in and hammer her forelegs at the creature's side until it let her friend go. It was fear, however, that overrode that particular desire, and rooted her to the spot. Well, fear and a healthy dose of curiosity. Diamond didn't sound so much terrified, as she sounded frustrated. Irritated to be displaced from her nightly routine by the creature that was dragging her along. She also didn't cry out for help. She wasn't screaming for some pony to come and get her, or to take her away from this nightmare she found herself in. She was simply screaming in growing rage. Was that what Scootaloo was hearing? Was that rage that was straining her voice like that? Scootaloo kept quiet and still, narrowing her eyes through the gloom as the dark figures tugged at one and other.

Diamond managed to finally kick herself free, her next blow dislodging the Timber Wolf's lower jaw enough for Diamond to slip her leg out of its grip. Immediately the filly began to scoot away on her rump as fast as she could, kicking herself along the ground, while keeping an eye on the Timber Wolf. For a brief second, the wolf's jaw hung haphazardly off its mouth and it leaned back on its hind legs and using its forelegs, it reached up and adjusted its lower jaw, snapping it back into place. It flexed its mouth once, twice, opening and shutting it to make sure it worked properly before it turned towards Diamond, and a low, terrible growl ripped its way out from its clenched fangs.

It lunged forward before Diamond was ready for it and seized the girl's face in its jaws, crushing Diamond's skull with one clean snap. At least, that's what it tried to do. At least, that's what it was used to doing. Diamond's crystal skin proved far to tough for it to even leave a scratch, let alone make a meal out of the girl. If anything, it would have had an easier time chewing on actual diamonds than trying to eat Diamond. The silver filly squealed and writhed, trying to free herself from the beast's wicked fangs, tugging and kicking, and anything she could do to get some distance. When she realized her options had been exhausted and the wolf was starting to drag her into the deeper forest again, she did something desperate: Diamond made a wish on the star around her neck.

Diamond had always claimed she only used the star in emergencies, and surely this counted as an emergency. Her voice had changed from irritation to panic, once the monster that her head gripped in its teeth, and Scootaloo couldn't blame her. 'Invulnerable' as Diamond often claimed to be, it was one thing to boast about your exploits, but another thing entirely when you were actively going up against something that intended to murder you.

"I WISH I WAS ANYWHERE BUT HERE!" Diamond hollered. Immediately, the star around her neck glimmered brightly, and Diamond vanished in a cloud of smoke. Poof! Gone. Just like that. And just like that, Diamond appeared six feet to the left, collapsing onto the forest floor in a silver heap. Anywhere but here apparently meant anywhere. It was at this point, Scootaloo expected Diamond would turn tail and flee. Now. Now when she had the chance to escape, the wolf looking dumbfounded that its meal simply disappeared from its jaws. It would have been easy for Diamond to sneak off without it realizing where she'd gone, but Diamond did not crawl away like Scootaloo had expected. Diamond, instead, climbed to her hooves, lowered her head and splayed her wings. She scuffled her right foreleg against the ground with a low growl of her own and shot hot steam from her nose. Was she getting ready to charge? What was that crazy filly up to?

"DAZZLING DASH!!"

Diamond was off like a shot, her shrill, squeaky voice echoing off the surrounding trees and her wings tucked in. Her hooves were beginning to glitter underneath her, going from disfigured black to glowing gleaming silver. She was picking up speed, and in only a few feet, Diamond burst forward with unnatural acceleration. The creature turned in surprise, only given a moment to react, and in that moment, it did not react fast enough. Diamond hit the wolf with a ferocious headbutt and tore through its frame like a bullet, dispelling whatever dark magic was holding it together with the force of her impact and she tumbled through to the other side, leaving snapped branches and twigs in her wake. She'd tripped on her own hooves when she collided with the wolf and now lay sprawled on the forest floor, breathing heavily and stationary. Almost immediately, though, Diamond pulled herself to her hooves and back into a combat position, wildly looking around for her assailant. When she noticed the twigs and branches which were the remains of the Timber Wolf she'd destroyed, the filly stumbled back and crashed onto her rump.

"Ha! HAHAHAHA! OKAY! HA! O-OKAY!" Diamond shrieked. Probably louder than she should have. She seemed ultimately shocked that she'd succeeded in her attack, looking at the pile of sticks and then her hooves and the then sticks again. Was she, wait, was she crying? Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, carefully studying Diamond's frame in the clearing. She was convulsing faintly, trying to hold back tears that came anyway. She reached up and wiped her eyes, before she began to strangely slap herself on her forehead with both hooves.

"You're okay. It's okay. You're okay. It's okay. You're okay. It's okay. You're okay. It's okay. You're okay. It's okay. You're okay. It 's okay. You're okay. It's okay. You're okay. It's okay." she chanted, reaching up to wipe her eyes again. Even in the darkness, Scootaloo could make out Diamond's jittery, trembling frame. Timidly, the crystal filly stood up again and took a look around, grumbling quietly to herself. Scootaloo could make out something about flowers, and froze. Of course. She was looking for her basket. The wolves must have jumped her while she was making her way out of the forest. Probably to Horlick's Hill. That made sense. That would explain th-

"Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo snapped out of her thoughts, and realized Diamond was staring right at her with a puzzled expression on her face. Slowly, Scootaloo stood up and crept out from where she'd been hiding and flashed Diamond a bright smile.

"Heh, H-hi Diamond," she sputtered. Why had she been hiding after the fight? It wasn't like Diamond would have been mad that she was being watched, would she?

Diamond reached a hoof up and dried her eyes, before returning the smile Scootaloo offered with a brash one of her own, a familiar, glittering, silver smile, that screamed of smug satisfaction.

"Heh, heya Scoots. What are you'se doin' out here? These woods ain't to safe at night, cha know?! I just beat up a, uh, a whole pack of Timber Wolves! Yeah! They were trying to eat me, but they weren't no match for the Night's Errant! Luna's chosen best!" Diamond squeaked, throwing her tiny chest out and marching towards the other girl with an arrogant sway to her step. Scootaloo frowned and opened her mouth, only to pause, peering at her companion quietly. Suddenly, everything made a little more sense. Everything fit together a little better. The bragging, the tall-tales, the over exaggeration. The display after the battle was more than enough evidence. Diamond was probably utterly terrified at going into combat. How could she not be? Crystal skin aside, those wolves absolutely towered over her. They could fit her head in their jaws alone. There were grown stallions that had been eaten by Timber Wolves, and certainly members of the guard who'd been toppled by the monsters of the forest. Diamond acted like she wasn't scared of anything in the world, but she'd cried after combat. Was it easier to be brave when you believed your own hype? Was that the plan? Hype herself up so she could face down the monsters in the forest?

"I...was looking for you," Scootaloo said quietly. Diamond gave a little snort, and tossed her head back, boldly meandering passed Scootaloo and scanning the ground around her.

"Lookin' for me? In these woods? Girl, you'se crazy. But, uh, you ain't seen no basket of flowers round here, have ya? I kinda need to grab those before I head up to Horlick's Hill tonight. I'm sorry I'm late, but you know, heh, I just uh, had ta show them Timber Wolves what's what!" she squawked. Scootaloo gave a snort, and began to roll her eyes, but paused when she realized that Diamond might not have been telling a tall-tale this time. Sure she only saw her fighting one Timber Wolf, but who's to say there weren't more before she'd arrived? She smiled quietly, walking along with Diamond before she nodded her head.

"Yeah, actually, back over here a little ways. Say, Diamond I got a question," Scootaloo murmured as the made their way through the darkness.

"Yeah? Shoot!"

"How do you do that?

"Huh? Do what?"

"These woods are super scary at night. There's all kinds of stuff in here that could eat you up, but you wander in every night, without armor, a guide, or weapons. How are you so fearless all the time?" Scootaloo asked. She expected some hot air about being the Night's Errant, or how strong she was, but Diamond merely shook her head.

"That's easy! The trick to being fearless is to become fearsome. Then all the stuff you'se is afraid of, has to be afraid of you instead!" Diamond explained cheerfully. Scootaloo tilted her head and stared at Diamond for a long few moments. That wasn't the craziest thing she'd ever heard. In fact, it almost made sense. At least, as much sense as Diamond had a tendency to make.

"And" Diamond continued, stopping once she reached her basket, where she began to collect the flowers scattered along the ground. "If you say you ain't afraid long enough, hard enough, and actually listen, you sorta start to believe it," she squeaked, her radiant grin lighting up the evening. Scootlaoo had to grin in return, it was all she could do when seeing her friend so cheerful after almost being killed in the line of duty.

"So, you're gonna head back to the castle now, or are we goin' to the hill?" Scootaloo asked.

"Mmmphm, mpmpmh, mpmmmhm mmhm," said Diamond, her basket of flowers dangling from her lips. She put it down when Scootaloo stared at her and flashed another silver smile.

"The Hill! I can get these flowers to Luna at any time tonight, but I only get to hang out with you once a week, and I've already been delayed long enough tonight! Come on, we've got wishin' ta do!" she beamed warmly. Scootaloo wholeheartedly agreed.

Night 17

It was peaceful, up on the hill. The swirl of the universe and all its quiet splendor danced above Scootaloo's head in a silent twirl of majesty. Stars, galaxies, moons and planets colored the night sky, and sitting upon Horlick's Hill, taking it all in, Scootaloo felt like it was all for her. Like the sky was putting on a show for an audience of one. She felt insignificant, but almost in a good way. Like everything above her was fighting for her attention. Like the universe itself was trying to cram in as much ornate magnificence into her attention span as possible, each planet, each star and every inch of the night sky, competing for her attention all at once. Of course, it was all too much for her to take in, but sitting up on that hill, she could see where Night Ponies found their devotion to the darkness.

There was a melody to the silence of the night. Some hypnotic sound that wasn't there, drawing her attention to the sky and holding it there, twirling about in her thoughts. It was soothing. It was peaceful. It was-

"SCOOTALOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

It was Diamond Dancer. Scootaloo let out an exhausted sigh and let her attention drift down the hill, peering at the little bolt of silver that raced along the dirt road towards her. Normally the filly wasn't so loud and boisterous in her approach. Normally, her movements weren't so panicked and frenzied. Was something wrong? There was nothing chasing her that Scootaloo could detect. Was there some unseen danger that drove her into the fierce gallop that lead her towards Horlick's Hill? She'd not engaged in her super speed, she was running at a normal pace. She did not look as if she'd recently had a brush with combat: her spiked mohawk straight, her fur groomed, her wings pressed tightly against her sides. No, there didn't seem to be any immediate jeopardy, and yet somewhere deep down inside, Scootaloo knew this was about to be a 'thing.' A 'thing' that would require her to give up her evening in order to resolve whatever troubles plagued the tiny crystal filly racing towards her.

"Scootaloo! Scootaloo, Scootaloo, Scootaloo!" Diamond squealed, bursting up to the summit of the hill where she danced in place, bouncing from one hoof to the other. Scootaloo stared at Diamond quietly, before twisting herself ever so slightly towards the other girl. She blinked. Twice.

"...yeah?"

"YOU'SE GOT TO HIDE ME!" Diamond shrieked, grasping at Scootaloo's chest and pulling her nose-to-nose with her in unbridled panic. Scootaloo squirmed in Diamond's grasp, annoyed, but curious. What in Equestria had managed to get Diamond so riled up? She didn't seem like she'd ever need to request sanctuary. In any situation. Interesting.

"Hide you?"

"YES!"

"Hide you from what, Diamond?" Scootaloo asked. Flatly. She peered into Diamond's frenzied eyes and wriggled until she could pull herself free of the other girl, and immediately, Diamond began to hop in place again, as if standing still were costing her valuable time she couldn't afford.

"Bardigan!!" Diamond screamed. Scootaloo cocked her head to one side. As far as she knew. Diamond borderline worshiped the older pegasus that had adopted her, so requesting harbor from him drew more questions to Scootaloo's lips.

"You need me to hide you from your brother?"

"YES!"

"I'm going to regret asking this, but: why?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond and Bardigan got along fabulously. There was nothing that she could imagine that would rock Diamond to the core enough to request safety from him. The idea that he might be hurting her was literally impossible, so Scootaloo found herself drifting towards the conclusion that Diamond was being dramatic. Again.

"Okok, so, you know how I was complainin' bout not knowin' anything bout crystal culture a few weeks back?"

"Yeah?"

"And ya know how ya said I should ask Bardigan to take me to the Crystal Empire for a lil bit?"

"Uh huh?"

"So I did that, and Bardy says he's too busy to take me now, but he understands that I wanna learn more about my culture, right? So he goes and gets me feather-flippin' floogle horn lessons!!" Diamond shrieked. Ah, there it is.

Scootaloo held back a snort, but a grin managed to crack through her defenses. floogle horn Lessons. Of all the things to be afraid of. It was getting harder and harder to fight the laughter threatening to rip its way through her clenched teeth, try as she might. Diamond now cocked her head to one side as well. Didn't Scootaloo understand the gravity of the situation?

"...why is you'se laughin'?" she asked quietly. Scootaloo bit at her lower lip and drew in a cleansing breath, best she could.

"He got you floogle horn lessons?" she asked quietly. Diamond wildly nodded her head.

"Yeah! Can you'se believe it?! I'm terrible at the floogle horn, I hate that thing and it hates me. Sheesh, there is so many different ways you'se gotta purse you'se lips, right? But I can't feel my lips so anytime I try to blow it just comes out as noise. Noise that HURTS! So, uh, I've soooooorta been ditchin' my lessons, right? Cause, I can't tell Bardy, cause, like, what if he thinks I'm ungrateful, right? And I ain't! I'm really super duper happy that he tried to help, but that thing is horrible. I am not musical. Like, at all. Don't do instruments. Ick. But, I've got this recital comin' up, and I told him, like, um, that I had a mission out in the Sahoofa desert that night, and I couldn't go to the recital, but there ain't no mission, and I gotta hideout somewheres for a coupla nights! You'se gotta help me Scoots!"

"Uh..."

"PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?! I ain't gots no where else ta go! I ain't gots no idea where miss Velvet is and I can't go back ta hidin' under the bridge in Ponyville, too many ponies know me there, and the Castle of the Two Sisters ain't exactly hospitable ta fillies for long periods of time! You'se gotta help me, Scoots, you'se jus gotta!!"

"Ok, but where will I hide you?"

"How about you'se room?"

"Riiiight. And how do we get you into my room without aunt Lofty and aunt Holiday finding out?" Scootaloo asked, rolling her eyes. Diamond, however, seemed to have come up with the answers ahead of time, because she nearly jumped at the orange filly the moment she stopped talking.

"You'se gotta window, dontchas?!"

"Yeeeeeah?" Scootaloo winced. She didn't like where this was going.

"Then it's no problem, I'll just fly up to the window and use that!" Scootaloo sighed.

"I guess if you sleep during the day while Aunt Lofty and Aunt Holiday are at work...that might work..." Scootaloo stammered hesitantly. This was going to end in her being grounded. She just knew it. This was a bad idea and she was going to be grounded. For sure. No. She wasn't going to let this happened. There was nothing Diamond could say or do that woul-

"Yeahyeahyeah! This'll work! It'll totally work! And, I'll letcha make a wish on my star for all you'se troubles!" Diamond squeaked. Scootaloo's eyes widened immediately, and her gaze shot to the glittering jewel hanging from Diamond's neck. A star. A wish for anything she could think of. A real chance for flight!

"REALLY?!" Scootaloo practically screamed. Diamond beamed brightly and nodded her head.

"Yeah! Really! I owe ya one! ONE! ONE wish, cause ain't no tellin' what that thing'll do! But I'll wish for anything you'se want. Oh, gosh, thank you'se Scoots! I promise I won't be no trouble! You'se won't even know I'm there! Geez, Scoots, you'se the best! The very best!!" Diamond squeaked, her voice pitched higher than normal with giddy anticipation. Scootaloo sighed. Every warning flag she had was going off in her head. Every last one. But there was really no way of knowing when Diamond was willing to make a wish for her again. The girl was stingy with her power, and for good reason, but if this was the one time one of her wishes actually worked, Scootaloo could be high in the sky by the end of the week! It was worth it. It was totally worth it.

She hoped.

Night 18

"Dating?" Scootaloo asked, peering up at Diamond. The other filly was laying belly down on the branch overhead, her limbs lifelessly dangling to either side. She gave a dismal sort of snort and a plume of a glittery tail flickered into view out of the corner of Scootaloo's eye. The sort of movement that screamed of irritation and apprehension.

"Y-yeah. I mean, do you know like, um, how, or like, have you dateded anypony ever? It's Hearts n' Hooves day ain't it? That's sorta what this day is about, right?" Diamond asked after a moment of thoughtful silence.

"Naw. I'm to busy crusadin' to worry about that kinda stuff. Why are you asking me about dating? Since when do you care about Hearts and Hooves day?" Scootaloo asked. Silence pitched itself into the air, filling the space between the two before Diamond groaned.

"N-no reason," she offered quickly. Scootaloo rolled her eyes, lifting a lazy hoof into the air to bat at the end of Diamond's sparkly blue tail and tsked.

"Every time a pony lies a fairy drops down dead, Diamond,"

"Then I regret to inform you'se, I am a serial killer,"

"Do you revel in being a mass murderer? Does that make you feel good?"

"Everypony needs a hobby Scoots,"

Scootaloo gave a quiet chuckle and shook her head. She dropped the subject, letting her gaze pierce the gloom of the evening into the starry sky above. There were no stars in sight, at least, not the ones Scootaloo had been scanning the heavens for. A single shooting star. That was all she needed and yet, among the billions above, not a single one moved. She scowled and gave a groan.

"Just, ya know...curious. Ain't like I'm evah gonna get to, so I was kinda wonderin' what it was like, ya know?" came a voice, trickling down into Scootaloo's ears. The orange filly quirked a brow and shot another tsk up towards her companion.

"Aww come on, D, what makes you think you'll never get to date?" Scootaloo asked, watching Diamond shift her position. She pulled herself onto her back and tucked her forelegs behind her head. It was a lofty position, Scootaloo had noticed, that Diamond took when she was frustrated about something. As if staring into the sky with her hooves behind her head helped.

"Have you looked at my face? The 'Disfigured Filly' look ain't exactly trending, you know? Ain't no pony gonna want this. I don't age and other foals is mean. So I figured, you'se is my best source of information, cause I sure ain't gonna ask Bardigan!" Diamond explained. Scootaloo winced, opened her mouth, shut it, and opened it again before she sighed. She knew better than to argue with Diamond when it came to her disfigurement. While a blotch of black or two across her crystal pelt didn't exclude her from dating, it ripped holes in whatever confidence the filly had like paper.

"Well, um, I don't know a lot about it. I mean, I think you take another pony out to eat, or something,"

"That's it? Geez, I go out ta eat all the time. I had lunch outside today in fact!"

"No. It's gotta be at like, a restaurant."

"A restaurant?"

"Yeah. And you gotta pay for their food,"

"So far this sounds horrible,"

"This is what Rainbow Dash said,"

"It sounds like Rainbow Dash is doin' this wrong. What else did she say?"

"Well, then you take them out to do somethin'. Like, bowling or, like a play or something."

"Boring,"

"And then after, you make out,"

"Make out?"

"Yeah. You know, kissing n' stuff,"

"This is sounding worse and worse. So lemme get this straight, I gotta take some pony to a restaurant, pay for their food, go to a boring play and then let them slobber on me? I am inexplicably angry at society. Is this how ponies fall in love? How'd Hearts n' Hooves day get to be popular with baloney like this?! I will never go on a date!"

"Oh yeah? "

"Yeah! Why would I want to do anything like that? That is a nightmare. You are describing a nightmare,"

"Well, don't you have a pony you'd like to spend time with or get to know better?"

"Do you count? Cause I'm pretty sure this isn't a date,"

"No, I mean, like, a colt you think is cute or something?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond made an angry noise and waved a hoof as if to dismiss the question entirely.

"No. I ain't got no pony like that. Colts is stupid and kinda mean. The only colt I even talk to is Quark, and he's a big, dumb know-it-all dork," Diamond snarled, her tail lashing against the tree branch at the thought of the boy in the castle. Scootaloo chuckled. Ahhh, That sounded a tad like Diamond was hiding something. Feelings for a colt perhaps?

"Quark huh? Are you sure you don't like him?" Scootaloo grinned. Diamond scoffed.

"I'd like him to be pushed off a building," Diamond said. Flatly. Scootaloo winced. Okay, Diamond was not trying to hide her affections for Quark. Check.

"R-right, ok, so, no colts then. Yeah, colts are dumb. What about a filly?"

"W-what? What about a filly?"

"Well, you said you don't like colts....so...Diamond...Is there a filly you think is cute?" Scootaloo asked quietly, a grin starting to tug at her lips. Diamond gave another snort and waggle a hoof.

"W-what? No. NO! That's, I mean, that's just, Ha! Hahaha. S'dumb question," Diamond laughed, shaking her head. Scootaloo's grin widened.

"Who is it?! Wait, is it Sweetie Belle? Apple Bloom? Toora Roola? Twist?" Scootaloo asked, watching in delight as Diamond squirmed above her.

"N-no! None of those! Y-you'se is bein' a dork, Scoots. I ain't-"

"Wind Sprint?! Archer?! Aura?! Dinky?! Clover Candy?!" Scootaloo giggled, watching Diamond rock on the branch overhead, nearly tumbling off. She rolled herself over and around, hanging upside down to glare at Scootaloo. Scootaloo smiled sweetly.

"I'm gonna guess," she jeered. Diamond growled.

"I'm gonna kick you'se in the cutie mark,"

"Is it one of the fillies at my School? Is it one in town? Do I know her? Geez, who haven't I named...Is it...?"

"Scootaloo, I'm warnin' you'se..." Diamond growled. Scootaloo frowned and shook her head, knitting her brow.

"That's it then. Who haven't I named...I mean...wait..." she mumbled, glancing up at Diamond. The other girl had a glittery frown and glared at Scootaloo intently. Scootaloo wriggled herself back on the branch and narrowed her eyes.

"Is it...Diamond Tiara?" Scootaloo asked, scanning Diamond's face. The other filly looked ready to pounce, her muscles tensing visibly from her upside-down vantage point. Scootaloo tilted her head. No. Diamond didn't react to that. Which meant there was one other pony she could think of.

"Is it Silver S-" Scootaloo squealed as Diamond pounced, grappling Scootaloo by her shoulders and sending them both spilling out of the tree with angry squeals and gleeful giggles.

"Really?! Silver Spoon?! Seriously?!" Scootaloo cackled, even if her everything ached from the fall she took. Luckily, she landed on Diamond who seemed no worse for wear, but trembling with a frothing rage. She bucked Scootaloo off of her, shifting her hips to press herself up against the base of the tree with her forelegs crossed and sent the devil's glare her way. Scootaloo did not seem to notice, and if she did, she did not care.

"She's the most stuck up brat at School next to Diamond Tiara!" Scootaloo pointed out. Diamond immediately shook her head hard enough to make her ears flap from side to side.

"I-I didn't say it was Silver Spoon!! You'se is just assuming it's her! It's not! I ain't got no crush on nopony! It ain't true at all! Geez, that's stupid. You'se is stupid!" Diamond huffed. Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders.

"You're getting awfully mad about something that isn't true,"

"I'M NOT MAD!!" Diamond snarled, her ears splaying against her skull while the sheer amount of rage contorting her muzzle make Scootaloo think steam was about to burst from her ears. Scootaloo held up her hooves in an effort to calm the raging filly. She'd not expected Diamond to get so upset so suddenly. But maybe it was a sore subject, after all. If Diamond didn't think anyone would ever fall for her, it must have been torture to have a crush on another filly, knowing nothing she could do would ever make it reciprocated.

"Hey, it's cool! Chill! It's no big deal if you like her! Do you want me to introduce you to her? I don't know her all that well, but sh-"

"NO!!" Diamond squeaked, instantly holding her hooves up. Her tone changed from fury to terror in a heartbeat and a radiant tint of crimson climbed onto her muzzle.

"N-no, I mean. That's okay. I mean, s-she's not, like, I don't like, err 'like' her. I, just, sorta think she's neat is all, I guess, you know? She's real smart and I ain't so good with book stuff ya know? So, I mean, I bet she could teach me a whole buncha stuff, maybe, and it would be kinda nice to maybe not feel like I was so dumb all the time," Diamond sputtered like her tongue had suddenly grown too sizes to big. Scootaloo nodded her head slowly. Riiiiight That made sense. Diamond idolized Silverspoon for her intelligence. Then, she paused, frowned, and tilted her head.

"Awww, come on, D, you're not dumb, and, wait a sec, how do you even know about Silver Spoon? I mean, she hangs out with Diamond Tiara all the time, and you sleep during the day when she goes to school. When would you have had the time to see her in the first place?" Scootaloo probed. Diamond rubbed the back of her head with a hoof and chuckled nervously.

"O-oh. Well, um...aheh, um, Sometimes Luna has me help her with patrolling the dream realm. I fit in a lot easier than she does when it comes to sneaking around foal dreams, since I don't talk like I'm a thousand years old, and I'm familiar with the times, so I don't seem out of place," Diamond explained. Scootaloo stared at her for a long few moments and pointed at hoof.

"Wait, last week I had a dream about being in class and I thought I saw you sitting in the back. Was that the real you?! And the other times before that?!" Scootaloo gasped. Diamond gave a squee grin.

"It ain't like I was spyin' on you'se or nothing. I mean, think about it. Every night you'se seen me, you'se ain't had no nightmares that night, now didja?" Diamond asked, a smug grin now dominating her features. Scootaloo paused. In retrospect, she'd not had a single nightmare that she could recall in the past few weeks.

"S-so maybe I noticed her durin' one of you'se dreams, and I just thought she looked neat. She was sittin at the front of the class with her hair all braided and stuff, and these glasses make her look real smart, and ya know, she seems like she'd be fun to hang out with," Diamond sputtered. Scootaloo nodded her head.

"Yeah? Would you take her to a nice restaurant if you could?" she asked. Diamond nodded.

"I guess. Sure. I mean, I bet she'd like somethin' like that. She seems classy. Or rich. Either or," Scootaloo grinned.

"If she wanted to see a play and invited you to come along, would you go with her?" she asked. Again, Diamond nodded her head.

"Yeah, but that's totally boring. I'd rather like, go on an adventure or something! But, if she really really wanted to- Aww, crud." The realization hit her like a truck and Scootaloo had that stupid grin on her face again. Diamond sighed and shook her head.

"This is a dumb conversation and I'm sorry I said anything about it. Hearts n' Hooves day is stupid," The filly groaned. Scootaloo shook her head almost immediately.

"Aww, come on, D, it's not so bad. I'll bet Silverspoon would love to hang out with a cool filly like you. You're a Servant of Shadow, you've got super speed, and you've got a wishing star! Not to mention you're the only crystal filly in town, so that automatically makes you cooler than the other fillies around here! I mean, you fight with Timberwolves for Celestia's sakes! Nopony in town is tougher than you!" Scootaloo cooed and peered around the tree to catch sight of Diamond's pink cheeks and flushed visage. The other filly quickly ducked her face under her blackened wing and huffed softly.

"It don't matter how cool I am, nopony is gonna wanna hang out with a pony who looks like this, Scoots!" Diamond growled. "I'm an inkblot and the whole rest o' the world is in technicolor. I was jus curious, but don't worry bout it. I don't know what ponies is interested in, but...it ain't ugly," The filly squeaked quietly, turning her gaze towards the stars overhead. From the other side of the tree, Scootaloo snarled.

"Diamond. I am going to tell you this, once. You. Are. Not. Ugly." The orange pegasus hissed. Diamond laughed.

"Prove it." She grumbled. Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. Diamond might not have realized it, but that was a challenge she intended to take. She just had to have a chat with a certain silver filly she knew...

Night 19

"Hey," the voice was quiet. A tender, friendly tone that floated up to the highest branch on the top of the tree where Diamond was sitting. The tiny pegasus peered over the scrap of parchment in her hooves and flashed Scootaloo a warm smile in return, lifting her head in a faint arch of acknowledgment.

"Hey," she cooed, but immediately returned her focus towards the quill in her muzzle and the paper held in her hooves. Scootaloo smiled quietly, wiggling her hips before she leaped up onto the lowest branch she could reach. Honestly, it seemed like the lone tree atop Horlick's Hill was made for climbing. Perfect for ground-bound pegasi with an ache for the sky. Nimbly, Scootaloo made her way up the tree, branch after branch, until she could go no higher, and sat just underneath the branch where Diamond was sitting, scribbling furiously at the parchment she was holding.

"Whatcha doin?"

"Writin,"

"I can see that, but I mean-"

"A letter! To mom!" Diamond exclaimed, her muzzle still wrapped around the quill she was holding. Scootaloo's eyes widened and a sharp gasp ripped itself from her lips. No. Way.

"What?! REALLY?! Diamond?! You found your mom?!" Scootaloo squealed. It was news that almost knocked her clear from the branch she clung too. A treasure that was worth more than gold, forever out of reach for the two of them. Had Diamond really succeeded in locating her long lost mother?! Was it possible?! Was it really possible?! Carefully, Scootaloo studied the pegasus above her. Diamond smiled, but it wasn't the vibrant, explosive smile of somepony who'd finally found a missing piece of their life. It was the sad smile of a sad pony who was doing the best she could in a cruel world. Scootaloo winced.

"Naw..." Diamond said quietly. She had finished writing whatever it was that she was jotting down, and now stared carefully at the parchment she held, reading and re-reading the scribbled text she'd painstakingly been scribing. Scootaloo tilted her head curiously to one side, muzzle scrunched up in curiosity, which grew even more when Diamond carefully folded the parchment and stuffed it inside of an envelope.

"You...You're writing her a letter?"

"Yeah,"

"That you're gonna send?"

"That's the plan,"

"But, if you don't know where she is, how is it gonna get to her?"

"...It won't..." Diamond said quietly. Scootaloo winced again. Oh. She carefully and delicately sealed the envelope, licking it closed before writing three letters atop it. Even from where Scootaloo was seated below her, she could make out the thick, bold ink of the letters. MOM. And with that, Diamond held the envelope in the air, and let the wind snatch it from her hooves, where it drifted off into the night sky, vanishing into the distance. Scootaloo bit her lower lip, watching Diamond's shoulders slump. The smaller pegasus suddenly seemed to be crushed under the weight of her wings, because she flumped down on the branch she was standing on. Like her legs would no longer support her weight. There, silently, she stared into the warm summer sky, past the infinite black of the cosmos and the glittering stars twinkling down overhead.

"What....what do you write to her?"

"Oh questions, mostly. I guess. I ask...where I'm supposed to fit in...If you didn't want me, why'd you have me? I ask, are you angry with me? Did I ruin your life? Can you ever forgive me, if I did? I ask her if that's why she got rid of me. I ask her if things could have been different. I ask her why I wasn't good enough. I ask her if I have siblings, or if I could have changed something. Anything. Anything at all to make her want to stay. Sometimes I ask her how she's doing. And what her favorite color is, or if she likes summer nights as much as I do. I ask her if she cries or if she misses me. I ask her if I make her sad. I ask her if she's looking for me, an-and if she found me, if we could be a family again. Other times, I tell her about Luna. And my most recent mission. And my brother, and my best friend, and I tell her all about my star and the last wish it granted. I tell her how I wish on it every night to see her. I tell her it grants most of them, but never that one. I tell her I dream about her, but she's never there when I wake up. I tell her I'm not mad. I tell her I get it. I tell her, that, I still love her even if she doesn't love me. Sometimes I...I can't...I can't figure out what to say, so I just...I make up stories...about how we're together and how happy we are, and m-maybe if she reads them, she'll be happy too even if they're just made up. I tell her that I'm doing really well, but I'd be better if she came back to get me. I tell her I'm sad I'll never know what it feels like to hug her, or listen to her heartbeat. I tell her I miss her even though I've never met her. I tell her all the things in my head until I run out of parchment. Sometimes I have to get more. Sometimes there isn't enough. There's never enough. So I have to stop, or I'll keep writing forever. I always tell her I'll be waiting, if she wants to come back. Even if she doesn't, I'll still wait, s-so if she ever changes her mind she'll know, I'll be there...a-and we can always start over...when she wants to. If she wants to. I'll never stop waiting for her to come back," Diamond sputtered quietly. She shook her head, adjusting her balance on the branch above, and glanced down at Scootaloo with a sad little grin wrapped around her muzzle.

"But I guess it's dumb to write a letter to a pony you don't know, who won't get it," she murmured quietly. Scootaloo found herself immediately shaking her head.

"Not really. You ever think about your dad?"

"My dad?"

"Yeah. I mean, I always hear you talk about missing your mother, but you never really mention your father,"

"...I don't, no. I don't really think about him. I try not to,"

"You try not to?"

"...Scoots...it's...it's easier, to imagine, one pony getting rid of you, but it's a lot harder when you imagine that it was a joint effort. Like...like two ponies decided that I wasn't worth keeping? One, could be heartless enough to do it, but two...two ponies sat down and decided "This filly is worthless," and the other said "I agree," and neither one tried to talk the other out of it? Or, if they did, the other made such a good argument for getting rid of me that they decided to go ahead and do so? No. I don't think about my father. I mean, mom is the one that had me, right? What say did he have, if any, in what happened to me. Did he even care? Did he even know? If he did...why hasn't he come to get me...why didn't either of them care Scoots? What about me is so...so horrible that two ponies...t-that they would decide to...that they wouldn't want ..no. No. I don't think about my father,"

"Yeah. Okay. I get it."

"Yeah?"

"Well, yeah. We're sisters. Of course, I get it,"

"Sisters? Us?"

"Yeah! We're sisters D! In all the ways that count! We're sisters in suffering, sisters in struggle and sisters in solace. Ground-bound pegasi that can't fly. Who else in town has those issues? Nopony that I know, so we gotta stick together! I figure if Bardigan can adopt you, and Rainbow can adopt me, then we can adopt each other. " Scootaloo chirped grinning warmly at the delighted smile that spread across Diamond's muzzle.

"...Yeah? For real?"

"For really real!"

"...Guess it's kinda hard to be lonely when you've got a sister, huh?"

"I guess it is,"

"...If that's the case, 'sis', we'd better get to work,"

"Work?"

"Yeah. I'm not letting a sister of mine go through life without flight! We've got wishin' to do and stars to seek!"

"I've got my eyes peeled!"

"Me too! We're gonna be cloud-bound in no time! Just you wait!"

Night 20

"Lo and behold if it ain't my favorite booty-mark crusader," came a lazy voice overhead, the owner hidden in the branches of the lone tree atop Horlick's Hill. Scootaloo rolled her eyes, grinning none the less as she reached the summit of their hangout spot.

"Hey D. Any bites tonight?" the orange pegasus asked as she reared back on her hind legs and rested her front hooves on the trunk. As per usual, a silver hoof drifted down, from the branches above, offering Scootaloo purchase so that she might find herself a semi-comfortable branch to rest on while she looked for shooting stars in the night.

"Naw. It's been pretty quiet up there," Diamond murmured softly, shaking her head in turn. "If there WAS a shootin' star, though, I'd have made a wish for both of us, ya know?" she smiled quietly. Scootaloo, who had managed to find a branch that was adjacent to Diamond Dancers, looked over at her companion and grinned.

"Yeah, I know, but it's more fun when we can make them together. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you about your 'booty-mark'," she snickered. Diamond raised an eyebrow, glancing down at her hip, where the image of a shooting star permanently resided.

"You've been meaning to ask me about my tramp-stamp? Do go on," Diamond chuckled dryly. Scootaloo leaned over, wings spreading ever so slightly to maintain her balance, and pointed a hoof at Diamond's hip.

"So, what's the deal with it? I mean, you said you got it when you were super young, right?"

"Yeah. I was like, seven, I think,"

"Right. Right. And you got that because you were super charged about winning that Wonder-bolts contest, right?"

"Uh...no. Not, not quite. I mean, I don't think so? I was really really focused on winning, but I didn't care about the contest. I just needed to get the money to help my friend in the hospital,"

"Well, ok. But, why is it a star?"

"What?"

"Well, I mean, what is it about stars that made it so your cutie-mark would end up being one? Isn't that kinda odd? I mean, it's not like you knew how important stars were going to be to you back then, right?"

"Geez, I don't know. Cutie-marks is weird. Like, I think there's a direct connection between them and names. I've been thinkin' about 'em and names, right?"

"You've been thinking? Did that hurt?"

"Har-har, Scoots. You'se, is, a card. But, for real, names, right?"

"Names?"

"Yeah. Like, Me? I'm Diamond Dancer. You're Scootaloo, right? I used to dance with the stars in the sky, like diamonds. You like your scooter!"

"...Yeah? So...?"

"Sooooooo, did our parents, know we'd like that stuff and that's why they named us that way, or, or, ooooor do we like that stuff because we were named after those things?! Think about it, Scootaloo! Lyra is good with a Lyre, right?! And, like, Bon-Bon makes candy, right? You'se ever think that maybe we're jus' products of our environment, or like, like maybe our destinies are predetermined by our Cutie-marks?"

"...Diamond, have you been drinking out of the birdbath in the park again?" Scootaloo asked, sitting up and leering at the silver filly next to her thoughtfully. Diamond gave a snort and quickly shook her head, her cheeks flushing a faint tint of scarlet at the question.

"N-noooooooo, that'd be...that'd be weird. And I maybe only did that once. It was hot out..."she mumbled. Scootaloo shook her head anyway.

"...Right. Well, Sweetie Belle really likes singing and that has nothing to do with her name,"

"What if she sings as clear and pretty as a bell?"

"Alright, Apple Bloom,"

"Well, she's, uh, blooming? Into...an...Apple. A fully fledged 'Apple' on the apple farm! Ha!"

"Alright, but what happens after she's done 'blooming'?"

"She changes her name to....Apple....Bloomed,"

"..." Scootaloo slowly raised an eyebrow.

"...This theory is a work in progress,"

"It sounds like the work of a mad mare,"

"Pffft, jus you wait. There's a naming conspiracy out there Scoots! I'm sure of it! Big Sister is watchin' us! They're controlling' our thoughts with Cute-ceañera's and makin' us into robots Scootaloo!!" Diamond squealed.

"This? This is what you spend your time thinking about?"

"That and bagels,"

"You need a hobby," Scootaloo giggled. Diamond gave a rough snort and waggled a dismissive hoof into the air.

"As if I had any time for a hobby. Workin for Luna is a full time job, ya know? But in all seriousness, yeah. I think Cutie-marks have to do with obsessions. Something that totally fills your mind night and day. I mean, all I ever cared about back then was getting a family and I figured if I caught a star, I could wish for one. And you and your friends? Apples and Sweetie? You'se guys was super obsessed with gettin' cutiemarks," Diamond explained. Scootaloo shook her head.

"Naw, that can't be it. My cutie-mark is a shield with a pegasus wing through it. Whats that supposed to mean?" she asked. Diamond opened her mouth to respond, paused, and then shook her head, curiously glancing down at the star on her flanks. What WAS that supposed to mean? Was her symbol just there because she liked stars? That seemed superficial to say the least, especially since the deeper purpose of her obsession in the first was for a family. Not to mention, now that she actually had a star, she often found herself wishing she did not.

"...I...I dunno...what if...huh. What if my Cutie Mark doesn't mean what I think it means? Like, I always thought it was because I liked stars, but now that I've got one and I'm not super fond of it, it can't be that," Diamond sputtered quietly. Scootaloo shook her head.

"Well, lucky for you, I know some ponies who can help you figure that out," she grinned. Diamond nodded her head, but continued to peer at the emblem on her flank. Stars. What symbol did a star possible have? To her? What was it supposed to mean? Did she have some say in the matter? Did it mean anything at all? Was it supposed to mean something different than she originally thought? Or worse, did it mean nothing at all, and Diamond was simply feeding into what she wanted it to mean. The silver filly frowned, and shook her head glumly, her skull suddenly felt heavy.

"But if you want my take on it, I think it means wishes. Like, maybe you help fulfill ponies wishes? You certainly fulfill Luna's wishes, right?" Scootaloo said softly. Diamond shook her head.

"No, that can't be it. I mean, it's not like mom wished she could have a foal just to get rid of it," Diamond grumbled. Scootaloo sat up straight and pointed a hoof at the other girl.

"And just how do you know that? What makes you think she just 'gave you away' You don't know that do you? How do you know you weren't like, kidnapped or something? Or, maybe you two somehow got separated and shes out there looking for you right now? Maybe, if she found you, her biggest wish would come true!" Scootaloo barked, her voice loud enough to echo into the distance with the passion behind her voice. Diamond bit her lower lip, giving Scootaloo a misty eyed smile, before she simply nodded her head.

"And I bet you Luna wished she could have some pony help her pick flowers, or fetching things she'd lost in the past before she was banished. I bet she wished she could have a court like her sister! And I know I wished I could have more friends back even before I met Sweetie and Applebloom. You're one wish after another after another D!" Scootaloo theorized, watching Diamond's frown die and a smile take its place.

"See? I knew there was a reason I liked you so much. Ha. Thanks, Scoots...that really helped! I wished for a best friend, and I got you. I guess, granting wishes, is a thing with me, huh?"

"You're a regular genie, Diamond,"

"If that's the case, then I'll wish you could fly," she said quietly, neither of them noticing the shooting star that soared over head.

Night 21

Silence was not one of Scootaloo's favorite things to listen to. Even with the cosmos over head, and the gentle sound of the summer breeze drifting across the hilltop, Scootaloo felt some sense of unease sitting with an companion without conversation. She glanced below her. Diamond was a few branches down, loafing and looking remarkably relaxed. Her forelegs were propping her head up and her hind legs were neatly folded over one and other in a remarkable display of balance for a filly who couldn't feel anything.

"Say, D?"

"Sup?"

"You hear about the Changeling attack a coupla years ago back in Canterlot?"

"Heard about it? Pfft, I was there!"

"You were? Really?! What were you doing?"

"Fightin' em!" Diamond exclaimed proudly, much to Scootaloo's skepticism. The orange pegasus peered down at the filly below her, who was in turn, grinning up at her with that bright silver smile of hers. Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, doing her best to tell if Diamond was lying to her or not.

"You were fending off Changelings when they attacked Canterlot?"

"Yepperoonie!"

"That's what you were doing? You were in Canterlot at the time? Seriously?"

"Yeah huh. I was doin' an errand for Luna that night. She was havin' me fetch some cider from one of the cellars back in the old Castle. She said it was for the weddin! She saids, "A proper wedding must have a proper toast, and a proper toast cannot be done without a proper beverage!" I'd just gotten back with a barrel of the stuff when all Tartarus broke loose,"

"What happened?!"

"There was like a hund-no a thousand of 'em. I mean, seriously. They were totally out numbering us, right? But Virga was there, he's the 'Night's Champion' and Luna's prized fighter. Or, somethin. I don't actually know what she considers him, but he's the pony you go to when things get rough. He grabs me by my tail, see, and asks me if I'm 'ready for a ride' Then he, ya know, swung me around like a flippin' ball and chain," Diamond grumbled quietly, her voice fading to a flat tone as the memories came flooding back to her. Scootaloo burst into giggles.

"Seriously?!"

"Well, yeah, I told you, Virga doesn't really need me in combat unless it's to use me as a weapon. Turns out, a crystal skull is as good as a ball and chain if not better. See, he can whip me around all he likes and if he lets go, I can run back to him. Sometimes he'd use the momentum to hurl me into a monster or something. He did that a couple of times while we were in the brawl. He'd twirl me around, let me go, I'd smack into a changeling at full force and then go racing back to him!"

"That, actually sounds kind of cool. Don't you get dizzy though?"

"...yeeeeeah. So, that's kind of a thing too. I'll get really super duper dizzy, and I'll tell him I'm gonna toss my cookies. He lets go, I land on a monster and yuck all over' em. They're grossed out, I'm grossed out, they can't see cause I aim for the face, Virga takes the opportunity to freeze 'em while they're distracted,"

"Hahaha, grooooooss! Weaponized puking! That's super nasty!" Scootaloo giggled. Diamond grinned.

"Well, it works cause they never expect it. Much the same way they never expect to see a filly in the field! We've got all kinds of tricks!"

"Well, how do you guys tell each other apart? I mean, how do you know Changelings don't infiltrate your ranks?"

"We got's our Royal Runes for that!"

"They can't mimic a Royal Rune?"

"I...Um...I don't think so? I mean, it's not like any changling could ever morph into me anyway,"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It'd be really easy to tell you apart from other ponies. I'd just set you in fire,"

"...whut?"

"Fire,"

"No, I heard you, but...what?"

"Well, yeah!"

"Ok. Wait. Stop. Waitwaitwait," Diamond said, squeezing her eyes shut as tightly as she could. When she opened then again, Scootaloo was hanging from the tree branch, peering at her with an upside-down grin that traveled from ear to ear. Diamond frowned.

"So, just, Lemme get this straight. You'se is telling me, that in order to tell the difference between me and a changeling impersonating me, your first impulse is to set me on fire?" Diamond sputtered. If it were possible, Scootaloo smug smile grew even larger than before.

"Yeah, or, ya know, take a hatchet to your face. Either would have the same effect," she chirped. Brightly. Diamond scowled.

"A hatchet?"

"Yup,"

"You would purchase a hatchet, just to take it to my face, in order to tell if I were a changeling or not?"

"Yup,"

"I feel that this raises severe questions about the nature of our relationship,"

"It would totally work though! A changeling can't replicate your crazy crystal skin! It's a perfect solution to the problem!"

"That is soooooooooooooo not the point of my argument!"

"Aww, come on, it'd be awesome!"

"We have extremely different definitions of awesome,"

"You wouldn't even feel it!"

"Not the problem I'm having here,"

"Can you think of a better way?"

"Several. Royal Runes to start with,"

"Yeah, but if I were like "Hey, D, lemme set you in fire to prove if your a changeling or not," you say 'yes' and a changeling would say 'no'!"

"Ok, first, wrong, second, very wrong. If you needed to tell the difference between me and a changeling and asked if you could set me on fire, and I was me, I'd still say 'no, you can not.'

"Then, the hatchet, then?"

"I don't think you've thought this though,"

"I don't know, seems like a good plan,"

"Ok. No. It is not. Look at it this way, if I was a changeling in your scenario and you took a hatchet to my face , you'd be covered in changeling blood and brain,"

"...uh..."

"That's what I thought. Now, as for you, I'd just be like, "Hey, Scoots, do a sick trick on your scooter and you'd do it and that would be that,"

"How do you know changelings can't do sick tricks?"

"Do you think they have scooters in the hive?"

"They could!"

"I don't see that being the case,"

"Ok, so how would I tell you apart from a changeling? What if they can mimic a Royal Rune?"

"Um....oh, ohohohoh! You'd ask me something only I would know!"

"Hmmm...OH, I go it! Whats your middle name!"

"That's a good one! Nopony knows that!"

"Yeah and there ain't a lot of ponies named Desiree!"

"I think it's got a cool ring to it! So, there's a way you could figure out who the real me was, without, you know, the fire. Also, clones!" Diamond chirped brightly. Scootaloo cocked her head to the side. Clones?

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, clones! I can clone myself!" Diamond squeaked.

Scootaloo nodded her head quietly, offering Diamond a nervous smile. She had heard the words she said, the comment still ringing in her ears. She understood the words that she said clear as day, and yet her brain refused to give them meaning. They could not have meaning. This was something Scootaloo was not ready to accept.

"You...OK. I, I don't understand. You can clone yourself?" Scootaloo asked skeptically. Nervously. Fearfully. Diamond smiled widely and nodded her head again. Scootaloo frowned. The words still didn't make any sense. She did not want them to make sense. They could not make sense. They weren't allowed to make sense.

"You...You can...You can clone yourself?" Scootaloo asked skeptically. Nervously. Fearfully. Diamond smiled widely and nodded her head. Scootaloo frowned. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. She did not want this.

"You...Hang on. Just, let me...You...You can...You can clone yourself?" Scootaloo asked a third time. Nervously. Fearfully. She paused and rubbed her temples with her hooves, trying meekly to wrap her mind around what she was hearing. She glanced at the grinning ten year old next to her, frowned and shook her head. Nope. Did not want.

"I don't understand," Scootaloo finally whimpered. Diamond could not clone herself. That was a problem Scootaloo did not want to solve, or even attempt to tackle. Diamond dropped to the ground, and from her languid position under the tree, smiled even wider. Slowly, nervously, Scootaloo followed.

"Sure can! Wanna see?!" She squeaked cheerfully. Scootaloo swallowed.

"Please do not," Scootaloo begged. She did not know what was going to happen. She did not want to find out. Diamond took on the stance of a runner's pose and flexed her legs.

"Jus watch! This is gonna be rad!" Diamond explained. Another warning flag. Anypony who used the term 'rad' to describe what they were about to do was a pony that was destined to visit the ER shortly. Scootaloo cringed. There was no way things tonight would not end in tears and tragedy. She could feel it.

"D, I really don't think-" she began, but Diamond wasn't listening. She'd raced off like a shot, bounding down the side of the hill, her contrail kicking in moments after she'd taken off and now flickered brightly behind her, a crisp white light that burned brightly behind her. When she reached the foot of the hill she stopped, zigged to her left, then zagged to her right, pausing briefly in her movements before she slowed down altogether, tripped over her own hooves and went bouncing across the grass like a tennis ball. Every time she'd stopped, she left what appeared to be an exact clone of herself. A duplicate. Three of them. Scootaloo wanted to cry. Oh, god no. There were three of them. There were three Diamond Dancers. The world was not ready for this. Scootaloo was not ready for this. Any moment now, the fabric of reality was going to eat itself and Scootaloo expected to be cast into an empty void after being turned into a triangle or something.

Still, curiosity beat horror and the orange pegasus timidly rose from her spot and made her way down the hill, keeping a wary eye on the clones as she walked. They did not move. One of the Diamonds (the original, as far as Scootaloo could tell) beamed brightly and waved a hoof, walking over with a still wide grin wrapped around her muzzle.

"See?! See?! S'cool right?! They look jus like me!" Diamond exclaimed. Indeed they did. They were horrifyingly similar to the tiny filly bouncing around them. Nervously, Scootaloo nodded her head, licking at her lips and looking for the moisture that had gone missing from her tongue.

"Y-yeah...yeeeeeeah," she stammered. She whimpered. This was not something she had ever expected to witness. Nor did she want to. She swallowed, peering at one of the Diamonds, who stared straight ahead, unmoving.

"Do they...um..hey?" she asked nervously. The creature didn't respond. Diamond giggled. One of the Diamonds anyway. Idly, Scootaloo wondered what was taking the apocalypse so long to start.

"They ain't 'real' clones, see? Back when Firefly was my trainer, she figured they was, uh, lesse, whad she call 'em. Uh...uh...you know, like, things that ain't really there, but they look like they're there?" Diamond Asked. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. Not really there?

"Phantoms?" She asked. Diamond shook her head.

"Nah, those is like, ghosts. I mean, um...um...like a...um..." The filly struggled, waving a hoof about idly while searching for the word.

"Illusions?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond's face lit up.

"Yeah! That's it! Firefly said they was illusions! See, when I stop, and my contrail catches up to me, the light bounces offa the reflective properties in my silver coat! Ain't that neat?! I can leave as many as I want, but they don't move or nothin," Diamond explained, reaching out to tap one of the Diamonds on the shoulder. Immediately it exploded into sparkles, tumbling down into nothingness while Scootaloo stood there, wide-eyed. Wide-eyed and relieved. Ohthankyousweetponyjesus Ok. So they weren't 'real' clones. That was good. That was very good. That was very very good. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and her shoulders slumped.

"Whassa matter with you?" A voice quipped. Diamond's voice. Diamond was saying something to her. Scootaloo glanced over, and nibbled along the rubbery surface of her lower lip.

"N-nothing. For a moment I thought existence was about to collapse. So, um, how'd you find out you could do this?"

"By runnin' around and slammin' into stuff!"

"I believe you. Hopefully, we'll never have to deal with this situation. Ever."

"I dunno...it might be kinda cool having two Scootaloo's to hang out. I mean, you're really kinda the only other pony my age I talk to,"

"I keep offering to fix that for you!"

"Correction: The only other pony my age that I tolerate,"

"I could still fix that for you,"

"Maybe one day, but, for now, you're all I need,"

"Hahaha and one of you is all I need too," Scootaloo snickered.

Night 22

The unprecedented magnificence of the stars demanded all but every last inch of Scootaloo's attention, prying her gaze relentlessly from one gleaming, shimmering jewel to another. Each was brighter than the last and each seemed to sing to her, to call to her, summoning her gaze across a vast, empty ocean of endless black, where the distant beacon of glimmering light pulled her in, only to be wrenched away by another distant shine, and again and again and again. A dazzling beauty she didn't dare try to describe burst before her in captivating ornate splendor, unopposed by anything else the universe had to offe-

"I need a bigger butt!"

Scootaloo clambered up from her languid position on the tree branch and blinked. Twice. Ever so slightly, she found her way to her hooves, balancing precariously on the wooden branch below her, and leaned back on her hind legs to gain the height necessary to breach the leafy canopy just above. She poked her head through, and quietly eyed the tiny silver filly who sat calmly on the branch adjacent from her.

"What?"

"My butt!" Diamond squeaked, shifting her hips left and right where she sat. Scootaloo stared quietly, ignoring the numerous sarcastic remarks that pelted her from inside her own head, and quickly widdled down her list of responses to something that seemed vaguely appropriate.

"As much as I try not to feed into your raging insanity, Diamond, I'm worried where this is going to go if I don't. Why do you need a bigger butt? Is Treasure picking on you again?" Scootaloo asked flatly. Diamond's glittering smile lit up the darkened canopy of the tree and she wiggled her hips again.

"Naw! Listen, I think I got it! Ok, so, the ways I see it, Scoots, I can't control my 'star power' so good, right? So, I figure maybe it has somethin' to do with my cutie-mark. 'Sa shootin' star, see? So, I get myself a bigger butt, I get a bigger cutie-mark, I get a bigger cutie-mark, I increase the control of my star-power. Pure, brilliance!" Diamond squeaked with a smug smile cast over her lips. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. For all of Diamond's crazy schemes and poor thought out plans, this one at least paved a path Scootaloo felt she could follow along logically. It almost made sense. Almost.

"Yeah, but no," Scootaloo groaned. "That is a horrible idea, Diamond," She added. As expected, Diamond scrunched up her muzzle and gave an angry little huff, narrowing her eyes at the orange pegasus peering through the leaves.

"Whadda mean it's a horrible idea?! No it ain't! It's a fantastic idea! All I gotta do is gorge myself on cupcakes and sweets and stuff, and presto-chango I got bam-in-da-booty! Cinchy!" The tiny filly squeaked. Scootaloo frowned, opened her mouth, closed it, opened her mouth again, winced, and then simply shook her head. Diamond scowled quietly and rose up from her position on the tree branch. With Scootaloo craning her neck up through the layer of leaves below, and Diamond on the branch above, she practically towered Scootaloo, and the angry features of Diamond's black and glittery muzzle was all Scootaloo could see.

"Well, uh, it's just that..." Scootaloo stammered, chewing on her lip. This was a mine field. This was a mine field she wanted nothing to do with. She knew better than to venture into this mine field, but Diamond had a clever way of setting up traps, and Scootaloo always managed to wander in before she noticed. She sighed. This was going to be one of those nights...

"Spit it out? What? You'se is jus dismayed by my genius is all! I'm gonna be a fat flank in no time! I'm goin' to Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow and Imma ask Pinkie Pie to-" Diamond babbled, but Scootaloo cut her off with a grim sigh.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, D, I don't, I don't think this is gonna work out so well. First of all, you hardly ever eat. Heck, you need Bardigan to remind you to eat," Scootaloo began, but Diamond held up a hoof and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll just leave myself some sticky notes to remind me! Extra sticky notes! They'll say : Dear Diamond! You need more junk in the trunk! Eat a cuppity-cake today!' Problem: solved!" Diamond squeaked. Scootaloo sighed.

"Ok. Barring extensive use of sticky notes, you're kinda the smallest filly...um...like...ever? I mean, you're bones and feathers, D. There are flag poles at my school thicker than you are. I don't think gorging on cupcakes is gonna help you get any bigger, and even if it does, what makes you think it'll go to your butt? What if you just get really fat?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond leaned back on her haunches and stole a glance at the star on her flanks and gave a snort.

"No way that could happen! I mean, if I just keep eating, eventually some will go to my flanks! I can't be a fat pony with a tiny hiney, that doesn't exist! I'm gonna be feather-flippin' huge! I'll do a lot of exercises, and like, not exercise my butt! From now on no butt exercises!" Diamond proclaimed. Scootaloo bit at her lower lip again and at this point, she wished this was one of the stranger plans she'd gone to lengths to talk Diamond out of.

It was not.

"And what if a big butt doesn't help you control your powers any better? What if it just makes your wish disasters even worse?" Scootaloo asked. Again, Diamond shook her head and gave a rough snort that rippled through the canopy. She rolled her eyes and gestured with an empty black and silver hoof.

"Psssssht. I don't...I don't, make 'wish disasters' I... I um... I create 'strategic learning opportunities'" Diamond chuckled sheepishly, letting her hoof drift up to rub the back of her head. Scootaloo drew in another breath through her teeth...

"And...I mean, I though you said you didn't grow anymore because of that curse on you?" Scootaloo stammered hesitantly. She sighed immediately, watching the gleaming spark of excitement in Diamond's eyes die with that single sentence, and the filly's shoulder's slouched forward.

"Oh. Yeah. Right," Diamond sputtered. She tumbled back into her favorite position against the tree: laying with her back against the trunk, her forelegs tucked under her head while her hindlegs were crossed. Her sad gaze peeled away from Scootaloo and drifted back towards the stars. Scootaloo instantly scrambled for something to say. Anything. Anything at all, to quell the deafening roar of the silence between them, but nothing came to mind.

"Aheh...right. I got so excited about the idea of me controllin' my star power by gettin' bigger, I kinda forgot I couldn't there for a second," Diamond mumbled. Scootaloo watched for a few moments longer, not sure if she should clamber back down to her original position on the tree, or climb up the branch to give Diamond a hug. The creature that had cursed the crystal filly had allegedly given Diamond an impossible longevity with the prominent prospect of never growing another inch in her size, or gaining another minute of time. The filly had been trapped in a failing body as long as Scootaloo had known her and it was a concept that never failed to send ice racing down Scootaloo's spine. She idly wondered if there was something she should say. After all, it was her who had so cruelly ripped Diamond from her blissful ignorance of her fate and dropped her back into reality. The orange pegasus gave a glum sigh and settled back down on her branch. Above her, she could hear shifting and movement.

"It ain't so bad." Diamond's voice floated down loftily. "Dyin'. I mean. I ain't scared of that. But, never gettin' the chance to live? That right there. That's the real kick in the tail," Diamond groaned. "Bardy takes me to the hospital some times. I ask 'em if they've found any new break-throughs to cure Icarus Syndrome. They ain't never got any, but they offer me all the ice cream I can eat. That's the best part. The worst part is that's all they can do for me. The worst part is knowing that's it. That's ALL. A little cup of ice cream. Nothing more. All the tests don't do nothin. All the pills in the world can't help. You know it's comin' but you'se can't do nothin' bout it, cept eat ice cream and wait. And everybody else just watches. The only weapon you have is to forget. Just long enough to be happy, until something comes along and reminds you. Star power. Wishes. That's my only shot. There's gotta be a wish out there that can fix all this. Fix...me, ya know? The star is the answer. I know it, Scoots. I can feel it. I just don't know how to make it do what I want and all I want it to do is to save me."

The tree was silent again. The night, was silent again. Diamond gave another sigh, alternating her glances between the stars above her, and the glimmering jewel dangling from her collar. She peeked up through the canopy, catching the glint of stars shining in the sky and wondered how something so distant and tiny could possibly be her salvation.

"I really don't think your butt is the answer to this problem, D." Came the voice underneath her. Diamond gave a quiet snort.

"It is my only hope, Scootaloo. The best thing that will ever come out of it.

"I am not putting my faith in that.

"Heh, I don't blame you. But me...it ain't like I got a lot of options here. If I don't have my star power, what else is gonna get me through this?"

"Not sure. But, I'll help you find it, whatever it is,"

"What if it turns out to be my butt after all?!"

"That would be the worst end to this."

"Correction, that would be 'my' end to this!" Diamond giggled. Scootaloo rolled her eyes, but it was nice to hear the tiny filly laugh again, even if the conversation was juvenile.

"Say, Scoots. You think Princess Twilight would have an answer, or would she just spout off about the power of 'Friendship' or somethin?" Diamond asked. Scootaloo raised an ear and cocked her head to one side. Now, say, that was an idea.

"I don't know, D, but it might be worth askin' her. I mean, the power of friendship is pretty strong. I heard she used it to beat up monsters that were attacking town."

"Yeah? I mean, I guess. You uh...will you, maybe come with me to ask her? I don't know her all too good, and you'se uh, take classes with her or somethin' doncha?"

"Sure I can! I can take you to the school to talk with her tomorrow!"

"Aww., thank's Scoots! You'se a real great pal! You'se really think there's somethin' to this 'friendship' power thing?"

"Well, I hear it's magic,"

"Har, har, ain't you'se a card,"

Night 24

She had been crying again, a curious departure from the brilliantly bright and shiny grin that encompassed her features the night before. Concerned, but wary, Diamond slowed her pace , letting her intrepidation lead her towards the top of the hill. Scootaloo's face was marred much like the night before; orange streaks discolored the fur along her cheeks and spoke in volumes to Diamond, screaming of some unspoken tragedy.

Nearing the summit of the hill, Diamond grasped at the last fringes of hope, holding out that perhaps, maybe these were happy tears like the night before. That something even better had occurred that left Scootaloo's face awash in liquid emotion. Perhaps that was why she was sitting at the top of the hill on a Saturday. Rarely did the two of them meet on nights that weren't Friday. A Saturday meet was cause for every alarm signal that Diamond had and she steeled herself as best she could while taking to the short jaunt that closed the distance between her and her companion.

Tearfully, Scootaloo turned and peered at Diamond through red, bloodshot eyes. In her hooves, she grasped a crumble post card and clutched it morosely against her chest. She reached up, hiccuped and rubbed at her eyes, staring fixated at the other girl who sat down next to her.

"We're moving," were the only two words Scootaloo could manage before a fresh round of tears tore mercilessly at her fragile stability. Diamond, swallowed quietly, and deftly nodded her head, suddenly finding her own composure slipping through her hooves like sand.

"I...Wha-....You-....n-no...no you'se can't....No....nononononoNO!" Diamond squeaked, her hooves immediately circling around Scootaloo's frame to squeeze her tightly, as if somehow her body could protect her from fate's cruel touch like a shield.

A moment passed, before Scootaloo tugged herself away, reaching a hoof up to draw over her nose in a halfhearted attempt to console herself. She'd spent the better half of the day crying, but still found tears to shed.

"W-when...When are you m-" Diamond asked, before Scootaloo cut her off grimly

"Tomorrow," she huffed. Diamond's jaw dropped. The night had given her a one-two punch to the gut with a surprising viciousness. Tomorrow?! That wasn't fair at all! That wasn't enough time! Did their remaining hours together need to be so short? Did fate need to be so relentlessly cruel?! Diamond climbed to her hooves and pulled herself into a hasty pace around the tree at the top of the hill. She wildly wracked her brain for solutions, ideas, plans, something, ANYTHING she could do to keep her best friend in town. Nothing came to mind, however, and Diamond found herself giving pause to her contemplation when she noticed Scootaloo staring at her. Quietly, Scootaloo lifted a shaky hoof, pointing it desperately towards the dangling bauble around Diamond's throat.

"Y-you can fix this, can't you?! You can make this all go away, right? Diamond?! Please?!" Scootaloo sobbed. Nervously, Diamond cupped the glimmering bulb in her hooves and stared into the heart of the gem. She bit at her lower lip before swallowing and opening her mouth.

"I...I wish..."She sputtered, stopped, drew in a deep breath, and let the pendant return to the dangling state against her chest. Scootaloo stared quietly, and Diamond tearfully shook her head.

"S-Scoot...Scootaloo, I can't..." Diamond whimpered. Scootaloo glared in disbelief before wildly shaking her head. No. This couldn't be happening!

"W-what do you mean you can't!! Yes you can!! YES YOU CAN! YOU CAN! IT'S EASY!" She shrieked, reaching over to grasp the smaller filly's shoulders with her forelegs. Diamond blinked back tears and meekly shook her head again.

"Scootaloo, I can't. I can't and you'se know that I can't," Diamond sniffled softly and cast her gaze anywhere she could other than Scootaloo's heart-broken eyes. Scootaloo wasn't having any of that though, no, she clutched Diamond tightly and growled.

"Y-you said it was only for emergencies, right?! This is an emergency! I don't wanna leave Ponyville! I can't! This is...This is where my school is! This is where my friends are! This is my home! Don't make me leave! I need you! Come on D, make the wish!!" Scootaloo shrieked. Diamond lurched herself away, and buried her face in her hooves.

"Scootaloo, please d-don't make me do this! I don't wanna do this, this isn't what...this isn't w-what you'se want..." Diamond begged.

"YES! YES IT IS! YOU'RE MY LAST CHANCE!! WE'RE FRIENDS AREN'T WE?! SISTERS, REMEMBER?! Don't let this happen, Diamond! You can't let this happen!!" Scootaloo barked, reaching out to grasp at Diamond's pendant. Diamond pulled away, leaping back, tears now starting to trickle down her blackened fur.

"I CAN'T Scootaloo! If I make a wish, it will come true. If I wish you'se could stay in Ponyville, it'll do anything to make that happen. What's the worst thing you'se can think of?! It might do that! What if it killed you'se parents?! Huh?! Then you'd get to stay here, wouldn't you'se?! Is that what you'se want?! What if you'se died?! They'd bury you'se here Scoots...You'd never go anywhere again! What if you'se got lost or trapped somewhere and couldn't get free? You'd be forced to stay!" What kind of sister would I be if I did that to you'se? I can't, Scoots. I...I don't want you'se to move, but I don't want anything bad to happen to you'se either!" Diamond squealed. Scootaloo glared at the crystal filly quietly, her chest trembling with every labored breath and her eyes locked onto the hanging jewel wrapped around Diamond's neck.

"But there's a chance those things won't happen. Right?" Scootaloo hissed. Diamond's ears splayed to either side of her head and the filly took a step back.

"I won't...I won't gamble on you'se life Scoots, you'se is my best friend! I can't, Scoots, I can't do this! Don't make me do this!" Diamond plead. Scootaloo glared the devil's glare and quietly turned away from Diamond Dancer with a look of disgust etched over her muzzle. Diamond wildly shook her head, reaching out for the orange pegasus, but stopped short of actually grasping her.

"L-look, maybe we can find another way! Maybe we can-" Diamond babbled, but Scootaloo cut her off with a vicious snarl.

"We. Tried. We tried everything! We spent the whole day trying everything we could think of. Nothing worked. You were my last hope. See you around, Diamond. Oh. Wait. I guess I won't," Scootaloo snarled, stomping down the hill to her scooter. She tossed Diamond a vile look, turned her Scooter around, and blasted off into the night, leaving Diamond alone on the hill.

Lugubriously, Diamond watched and kept watching, standing perfectly still in her observation of Scootaloo, until the filly disappeared out of view. Quietly, Diamond cupped her gem in her hooves again and glared at the sparkly crystal. The star was the ultimate incarnation of irony: It could grant her anything she asked for, but it rarely gave her what she wanted. She had one of the most powerful artifacts in existence in her hooves and yet there wasn't anything she could do to keep her best friend from leaving her. She could reach into an endless void of power and bend reality itself, and yet, she was alone. She was alone again. For a brief, shining part of her life, she was blessed with friends. The only pony in the whole world Diamond knew who could understand the agony of being a ground-bound pegasi.

Vehemently, Diamond yanked the collar off her neck and threw it as hard as she possibly could into the darkness, christening the voyage with a feral scream of anguish . She watched it sail into the distance before the weight of the evenings sorrowed buckled her knees and she crumpled to the ground. With the last words Scootaloo had said ringing in her ears, Diamond buried her face under her hooves and began to cry.

Night 25

Diamond knew better than to use her star. She knew better than to make the wish for Scootaloo's return and give into the desire screaming at her in the back of her mind. She knew better than to wish Scootaloo would come back, no matter how badly she wanted to do so. Such a wish would be to invite disaster. Scootaloo's parents could die. That would send her back to live with her aunts. One of the Cutie Mark Crusader's could die as well. Scootaloo's parents would surely let her come back to attend the funeral. Just because Diamond would wish Scootaloo would come back wouldn't mean she'd 'stay' in ponyville. Or, on a much worse note, Scootaloo could return dead, her parents having decided to bury her in Ponyville where she spent most of her youth. There was an infinite well of horrors the star could choose from in order to grant the most mundane of wishes. It was gut-wrenchingly cruel in that regard and it was that very reason Diamond habitually wore it around her neck. It was her star, and her responsibility to protect other ponies from its nigh endless cruelty.

Days trickled by. One after another after another after another, twenty four hours like sand through Diamond's hooves. Days were like hours, and the hours were like seconds, and the seconds burned and bled into each other, passing by seamlessly with no beginning to their ends and no end to their beginnings.

Throughout the radiant blur of misery, the Night's Errant decided to bury herself in her work. To lose herself in her dedication to the night and funnel her distress into something positive. So she begged Princess Luna for a task, any task at all, really, to keep her focused on something other than the Hill that over looked Ponyville and the hole carved out of her heart in the shape of an orange pegasus. Luna, of course, obliged, sending Diamond to various locations on the map. To cities, to caves, to haunted forests, and desolate deserts, but regardless of the numerous missions Diamond had been tasked with, nothing proved to help. Every time she returned the hole in her heart remained just as large as it did when she left.

Days had passed since Diamond had peered up at the stars. Weeks had passed since she'd made any wishes. A month passed by since she visited the hill. There really wasn't any point. It had started as an excuse for Diamond to steal a break from the evenings demands and feed her obsession with stars, but once Scootaloo had started joining her, it had become an excuse for Diamond to hang out with her best friend. Her only real friend. Now she had no excuse at all to journey towards the hill late at night. She could look at stars anywhere she wanted during the evening. The hill was no longer special and the magic had all been drained away. Still, once again, Diamond found herself trudging along the dirt path towards Horlick's Hill. It was habit, she was certain, almost as certain as the dull ache that throbbed miserably inside of her.

"You'se had to screw this up, didn't you'se, Diamond? Y-you'se just had to go and mess it all up!! First you'se was obsessed with stars cause you'se wanted a family. You'se wanted a star so bad you'se got sick trying to catch one. Then you'se haaaaaaaaaaaad to come ta Ponyville ta thank Luna for the stars in the sky. You'se found a family. Bardigan adopted you'se. Luna gave you'se a job. You even found out you'se wasn't gonna die from Icarus Syndrome. You'se, just, couldn't, be, happy. No. Noooooo. No, Diamond, You'se HAD ta go n' make friends with Scootaloo. You'se just HAD ta run into another pegasus who was around you'se age, had the same problems you'se had, and was friendly, and...and...you'se just...you'se just had ta go and let her in, didn't you'se?! YOU'SE HAD TO STILL BE LONELY, YOU'SE IDIOT!! And now look?! LOOK AT THIS MESS!! You'se should never have gotten attached. But you'se did. And now...now you'se is all alone again. You'se knew this was gonna happen. This always happens when you'se make friends. It never lasts. 'Magic of friendship' Pah. Ain't that a kick in the tail," Diamond snarled, trudging up the side of the hill. Each step weighted like she were wearing lead horseshoes. She stopped at the summit and gazed across the darkened town below, where a morose sigh spilled past her lips.

"Is...is friendship supposed to be like this?" Diamond called out. The night did not reply. The filly reached a hoof up and rubbed her eyes with a whimper, finding her vision was starting to get blurry. It didn't help. She shook her head but the tears didn't stop.

"This is stupid!! THIS IS STUPID!! Knock it off, Diamond, You're fine! I DON'T CARE IF SHE'S GONE!! This don't bother me none! I'm invincible! I DON'T CARE!!" Diamond screeched into the night, listening to her own voice echo a confirmation of the situation. She reached up and rubbed at her eyes again. "I'm invincible!! I'M INVINCIBLE DARN IT! ... SO WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH?!" Diamond barked, trembling with a terrible rage that bubbled to the surface just below her sorrow. She wanted to scream and lash out, violently slam her body into something and break it into a bazillion pieces. Instead she settled herself down under the huge tree and buried her head in her forelegs. It hurt to much to sob anymore. Her tears only seemed to make things worse somehow. The girl sighed, peering at the glimmering jewel dangling from her neck. What was the point of having all the power in the cosmos if you were too scared to use it? Especially using it on something you wanted? Diamond bit her lower lip. Maybe the star would do something benign. Perhaps she could make it benevolent if she tried hard enough.

"I wish..."

She trailed off, images of Scootaloo's casket flickered through her mind.

"I wish..."

Diamond winced. The image of Scootaloo's casket was replaced with two coffins and Scootaloo standing over them distraught.

"I wish..." Diamond sighed. She could think of one million ways that this could go wrong, and what scared her the most were all the ways she couldn't think of. She drew in a deep breath, peering at the gem again and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I wish Scootaloo would come back? Granted,"

Diamond's head snapped up in surprise at the voice that made the wish for her and came from somewhere overhead. Immediately, the filly jumped to her hooves, watching in utter amazement as an orange pegasus dropped down from the branches above her, grinning wildly.

"Heya Diam-" Scootaloo yelped with a squeal, unable to finish her sentence due to the other filly that immediately wrapped her legs around her in a tight hug.

"SCOOTALOO!! S-Scootaloo!! You're back! You're back, you're back!! I-I thought that I would never, ever, never see you'se again!! I thought you'se was gone forever!!" Diamond shrieked, fresh tears racing down her face while she squeezed Scootaloo as hard as she could, as if afraid letting go would result in the girl vanishing. Scootaloo, however, did not vanish and simply wrapped her forelegs around the other girl gently.

"My parents changed their minds at the last minute. I've been lookin' for you to let you know, but you haven't been hitting the hill!" Scootaloo explained, trying to wrench her way from Diamond's grasp. Diamond did not let go.

"I'm s-so sorry I didn't, d-didn't make a wish for yo-" Diamond sputtered, but Scootaloo shook her head.

"Naw. You were right. I shouldn't have asked you to do that. I'm sorry, if something terrible would have happened I'd be the one to blame but you would have shared in the guilt and that's not really the sort of thing I wanna do to you. Forgive me?" Scootaloo asked meekly, watching Diamond nod her head against her chest. That was a yes, if Scootaloo had to guess. She smiled.

"Can, um, D, can you let go?" Scootaloo asked. Diamond shook her head, but she only clung to Scootaloo a few moments longer before she reached up to dab at her eyes again.

"Why'd you wait so long to tell me you were here? Were you in the tree that whole time?" Diamond squeaked. Scootaloo shrugged.

"I was waiting for you on the Hill! I said I've been lookin for you, and since I don't know where you live, and you only come out at night, this was my best bet! I kinda dozed off, and only woke up when I heard you under me. Where've you been?!" Scootaloo questioned. Diamond gave a groan.

"Coming back here reminded me of you'se too much, so, I, was sorta trying to avoid it until it didn't hurt so bad. So, I asked Luna to help keep me occupied. She's been having me go on all sorts of adventures!" Diamond explained. Scootaloo nodded, a grin tugging at her lips and she sat down on the hill side.

"Wanna tell me about 'em?" She asked. Tearfully, Diamond smiled, sat down next to her and nodded her head.

Night 1

The Black Garden was in full bloom overhead; an endless sea of twinkling flowers that stretched across the sky. The glimmering effect of the bejeweled canopy was not lost on the little orange pegasus below, who feverishly piloted her favorite craft along the outskirts of ponyville. More than once did she find her attention drift towards the cosmos above when she should have been paying attention to the road ahead and more than once Scootaloo narrowly avoided crashing.

The night sky just seemed to pop out of the atmosphere itself, the moon bigger, the stars brighter, and the sky clearer than Scootaloo could remember it being in ages. She idly wondered if that had anything to do with the tiny silver pegasus she was supposed to be meeting on Horlick's Hill.

She was already there, when Scootaloo arrived, laying on her back with her forelegs tucked under her head and her hind legs splayed out lazily in front of her. Diamond Dancer, Errant of the Evening, and personal Errand Girl to the Princess of Shadows. Endlessly Loyal to Luna, Diamond worked tirelessly for her princess, but every now and then, she was afforded a break in her schedule, and that's how Scootaloo had chanced upon her one evening: Lying on Horlick's Hill watching the stars. When Scootaloo poked herself into view, the girl's lips twisted into a wide grin and she sat up slightly straighter, before throwing out an empty hoof, gesturing to the sky above her.

"Sup Scoots! Glad ta see ya!" Diamond offered, her voice, boisterous and enthusiastic as ever, even if it was only the two of them on a lonely hill. Still, Scootaloo met the eager filly's energy with some of her own, flashing a bright gleaming smile, settling down next to her on the hillside.

"Hey D. Any bites tonight?" The orange pegasus asked. Diamond Dancer cast a glance towards the sky, searching vainly for any flicker of movement, but the stars remained stationary. She shook her head.

"Heh. I wish. Nah, it's been all quiet, far as I can tell. You catch any air today?" the silver filly asked, not bothering to glance at Scootaloo. She already knew the answer before she'd asked, but she asked anyway, hoping against hope she might hear something different this time. Scootaloo gave a grim little groan.

"Naw...I did a sick 720 on my board, but...no. No air. How about you? You um...you lose any?" Scootaloo stammered quietly. Diamond gave a dull snort and shrugged her shoulders against the grass.

"Meh I almost made it to Cloudsdale this afternoon. Didn't happen, but I got close. I'll totally bring you back some of that Cloud Candy they make up there. I haven't forgotten, I- I've just been busy, heh, ya know?" Diamond chirped. Her voice had gotten quieter, but then, it always did when she had to admit any failure on her part to fly properly.

"...I know, " Scootaloo said softly. An awkward silence slithered between the two of them, a welcome stage for the crickets surrounding them, waiting for their chance to shine in the evening moonlight. Diamond sadly lifted a blackened hoof and waved it limply at Scootaloo.

"We should start a club for ground-bound pegasi, " Diamond murmured to a curt snort from the other filly.

"It would be the saddest club in the world. Absolutely NOpony would want their hoof stamped to get back in," she giggled

"Yeah, but the only cover charge is your dignity and self-esteem!" Diamond added. Scootaloo rolled onto her back, kicking her legs out, giggling now.

"Our club meetings are just ten minutes of rollcall followed by forty-five minutes of sobbing!" she giggled, the conversation devolving into soft snickers.

"Where would you go...I mean...if you could still fly straight?" pipped Scootaloo suddenly. A question that came from nowhere and burned brightly. Diamond scrunched up her muzzle, frowned and then shook her head.

"I'd...I'd go...to...I don't know. Space? I still wanna catch a star. I know, I've already got one, and it's stupid and impossible, but...I wanna go as high as possible. Ya know?"

"Clouds, "

"Clouds?"

"Yeah. I've always wanted to take a nap on a cloud,"

"That's what you'd do if you could fly? The extent of your flight goals is cloud-based nappery? Clouds aren't super comfortable, ya know."

"They aren't?"

"Not really. They're lumpy and sometimes wet. I mean, sure, a cloud looks dry and then you get up there, you settle down, and suddenly you're soaked! Wet butt-fur for the next two hours," Diamond groaned. She narrowed her eyes at the stars above her, but still, none of them showed any signs of movement. She scowled.

Scootaloo, for the most part, seemed less interested in shooting stars or wishes or any of the things Diamond promised would happen if they managed to see a shooting star. No, Scootaloo just seemed to take the time in vain. Like it was a break from her everyday stressful life. Like these few scant minutes of time alone at night completely refreshed and revitalized her.

"Hey, Diamond, I've got a question,"

"Shoot,"

"The star Luna gave you grants wishes, right?"

"There is a very loose interpretation of 'wish' that can be applied here, but, for the sake of argument, sure."

"If Icarus Syndrome is keeping you from flying, why don't you just, I don't know, wish yourself better, then?"

" Naw, I tried that once,"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I said, ' I wish I didn't have Icarus Syndrome anymore." My big brother got it instead. I spent the rest of the day trying to find a wish to reverse what I did. I told myself if I finally found one, I'd never make that wish again."

"Wow. That is super messed up,"

"Yeah, this thing is more burden than boon sometimes. Speaking of which, do we have a wish tonight?"

"I haven't seen any shootin' stars, I've been thinkin about that one..."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I say, if we see a shooting star, we wish for flight!"

"We wished for flight last time!"

"Yeah, I know but if we get it THIS time, NEXT time we can wish for something else!" Scootaloo exclaimed. Diamond frowned, opened her mouth to protest, but fell silent in doing so. No, no, Scootaloo had a point. That made sense.

"Well...Yeah, I guess, but that's only IF we see a shooting star, " the tiny silver pegasus squeaked. The other pony grinned quietly.

"You think we'll see any tonight?" she asked peering into the infinite darkness. Diamond simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe. I'll keep wishin even if I don't see one, though."

"You think that'll work?"

"I wished I had friends, and I ran into you, didn't I?"

Scootaloo could only smile.

Night 5

The scooter came to a quiet stop at the bottom of Horlick's Hill, and Scootaloo stared into the distance, listening to the howl of silence that came with the midnight sky. At least, most nights, thats what she'd be listening to. That or Diamond Dancer prattling on and on about her latest triumphant adventure in fetching Luna a sandwich. But tonight, as she neared the hill, she heard a sound she'd never heard before.

Singing.

Oh, Scootaloo had heard singing before. Most ponies could carry a tune, that was a solid fact which sometimes resulted in spontaneous bursts of song. She'd never, however, heard a Crystal Pony sing. With a strong voice and a haunting melody, Scootaloo found herself lost to the drifting words overhead.

I see the night
Dance on the bay
All of the dark
Comes to stay

A glow from the heights
Glances along the water's skin
Nimble and bright
Shadows win

I’m always breathless to see,
Growing so slowly to greet me,
Where I end and where she begins

When she shines for me at night
And her stars so gleaming white
She will keep us in her sight
We all lie beneath her light

Lost in the clouds
Like tears in the rain
We aren't alone
All the same

Sleeping below
We never mind her diligence
Watching us all
Lie awake

Just on the edge of a dream
Growing so slowly to greet me
Tearing at all of its seams

When she shines for me at night
And her skies show black and white
She will keep us in her sight
We all lie beneath her light

When she shines for me at night
And her stars so gleaming white
She will keep us in her sight
We all lie beneath her light*

It was difficult to describe. A voice that seemed somehow hollow and transparent, yet wholesome and soulful. That was the word. Soulful. A song like that made Scootaloo contemplate the exact nature of the relationship between Princess and her errant girl. Was it Diamond's devotion that made her sing like that or did the emotion delve deeper? She sat there, listening quietly, wondering if Diamond would burst into another pretty song. Her voice was beautiful to listen to. Was it the crystal clear quality of her voice? Diamond had once said something about Crystal Pony throats being able to naturally harmonize, but she seemed just as confused when Scootaloo had asked how that made any sense. Scootaloo didn't press the issue, when Diamond struggled to find an explanation. It must have been hard not knowing all that much about your own tribe, let alone who your own parents were. There was very little information about Crystal Ponies since the Slavery of Sombra.

With a quiet glance at her own hooves, Scootaloo made her way towards the summit of the hill, and parked herself quietly underneath the lone tree, while the song shifted into quiet humming and murmurs. The little mare grinned warmly and leaned against the trunk of the tree, staring into the ebony sky before her.

"That was really pretty. I've never heard you sing before," Scootaloo called out. She giggled to herself at the bird-like 'squawk' of surprise that came from the branches above her followed by the sound of branches and twigs snapping. Moments later, a shocked and extremely embarrassed Diamond Dancer tumbled through the canopy and crashed to the ground next to the grinning orange filly.

"H-How much of that did you hear?!" Diamond chirped. With a lazy smile, Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders.

"Enough. You've got a really pretty voice. Kinda like Sweetie Belle! And just like her, you should sing more often!" Scootaloo grinned, enjoying the way Diamond's silver cheeks pinkened warmly.

"S-Shaddap!" Diamond huffed. Scootaloo seemed unphased, simply staring into the night sky with a grin on her muzzle that wouldn't leave for the rest of the night.

Night 14

It was a little bit later than normal when Scootaloo found herself racing along the dirt path from Ponyville towards the Hill overlooking Everfree forest. Aunt Lofty just had to stay up listening to one of her radio dramas. Bah. Still, it wasn't like the stars in the sky were going anywhere. Diamond would be there, of course. While dedicated to Princess Luna and the night itself, Diamond was a filly just like any other, and fillies were prone to fits of goofing off when they could get away with it.

Sure enough, Scootaloo could spot an occasional burst of flickering light from the hill as she sped towards it. Diamond's contrail kicking in when she collided with something. Scootaloo wrinkled her brow. What was she colliding with? Was it the ground? Scootaloo drew herself closer, parking her scooter at the base of the hill and wandered up the hillside, keeping a careful eye on the silver filly above her. Yup. Diamond was colliding with the ground. Over and over and over again. She scrambled up the tree to the highest branch, peered at the ground below and threw herself into the air. She fluttered and flapped black and silver wings, but the result was still the same: The girl crashed into the hillside with a brilliant burst of light and a shower of sparkles. Scootaloo winced. She knew all to well the pain of attempting to fly and while Diamond managed to occasionally get into the air, it seemed to be an occurrence that was happening less and less for the crystal filly.

Scootaloo sat down quietly on the hillside and watched. She didn't want to interrupt Diamond's concentration. She'd feel absolutely horrible if this was the attempt that would have sent Diamond soaring into the sky only for her concentration to be shattered by Scootaloo's approach. The filly climbed to the top of the tree again, but this time she seemed to hesitate. Had she noticed Scootaloo? It didn't seem like it. She didn't turn, or wave or greet her in any fashion. She simply stared sadly into the night sky. Had she given up? Scootallo sighed quietly and was about to offer the girl her condolences, but congratulate her on the attempt, when Diamond pitched herself into the air again.

She crashed into the ground with an echoing thud. Ouch. While Scootaloo was well aware Diamond couldn't feel pain, and her crystal skin protected her from most physical damage, she could only imagine the havoc all of this was having on her self-esteem. Sluggishly, Diamond climbed to her hooves and pulled herself into a sitting position at the base of the tree, leaning back with her head against the trunk where she gave a sorrowful sigh. She barely even glanced over when Scootaloo sat down next to her, opting to simply close her eyes and pull in a deep breath, her voice spilling from her muzzle in a sad, haunting melody.

I feel like I'm always on a ledge
I kinda like the little rush I get
When I stop and hold my breath
And watch the world get all hazy

Every time I crash into the earth,
I wish that pain would help me suffer when I'm hurt
For real, cuz this is driving me crazy.

Flying high, is just, a fantasy
and this thing, inside, it's killing me,
I'm afraid that this is forever,
I kinda think that I won't get better
I know it's dark and my end's not so far away,
I'm always scared, that it's today

It's always worse after midnight
I can't pretend that I feel well,
I'll fall apart by the weekend
These nights drag on and on and on

Solemnly, Scootaloo reached a wing over and let it rest on Diamond's shoulder. The silver filly glanced over and Scootaloo flashed her a warm smile. She too, drew in a quiet breath and let her thoughts out in the same sad melody Diamond had begun.

I can't keep your voice out of my head
All I hear are the many echoes of
The saddest things you said
And it's driving me crazy

We can find the best in all of this
And I'm always looking out for you
Cause you're high on my list
And I know it sucks lately

Flying high, might be, a fantasy,
deep down, inside, it's real to me
And I know that you fear forever,
And you're afraid that you won't get better
And things seem dark but it ends in another way
so trust'n me, you'll be okay!

We will hang out after midnight,
We won't pretend that you feel well
We'll hit the Hill on the weekend
These nights rock on and on and on

It wasn't much, Scootaloo was aware, but it was all she had to offer. And she offered it freely. A friend to lean on. A message that Diamond didn't have to deal with her issues alone. The silver filly stared for a moment, before she leaned in, resting her shoulder against Scootaloo's, the two swaying together to an invisible melody only the two of them could hear.

We will hang out after midnight,
We won't pretend that I feel well
We'll hit the Hill on the weekend
These nights rock on and on and on

We will hang out after midnight,
We won't pretend that you feel well
We'll hit the Hill on the weekend
These nights rock on and on and on!!

Gratifyingly, Scootaloo got to watch the slow progression of Diamond's morose frown into an upbeat smile and found hers matched perfectly. She gave the filly a squeeze around the shoulders and leaned back against the tree.

"You're confident things will 'end another way' huh? What are you basin' that on, Scoots?" Diamond asked quietly. Scootaloo let her shoulders rise and drop casually.

"Easy. I made a wish," she grinned, and pointed up towards the sky, at the shooting star passing overhead, which was all it took for Diamond to pounce her friend in a fierce hug.

Author's Note

Lyrical help by the spectacular ApplejackEQM

Night 23

Something was amiss. Diamond could tell immediately as she took the short jaunt to the top of the hill. The orange pegasus sitting at the top did not turn to greet Diamond with a cheery smile, nor did she even so much as acknowledge Diamond's arrival. She simply stared up into the ebony heavens, silent in her repose.

"H-Hey Scoots..." Diamond murmured quietly. Scootaloo's nearest ear gave a twitch, but that was the only response she had to offer. Diamond frowned. Something was definitely wrong. The dim light of the moon washing over the hillside didn't leave much light for observation, but Diamond's eyesight was better than most, and even better in the dark, and what she could see at moment, was that Scootaloo had been crying. Her cheeks were stained in streaks that were ever so slightly darker than her natural color. Frowning, Diamond took a seat next to her companion and gazed up at the stars with her in silence.

"If...If you'se wanna talk..." Diamond said softly. Scootaloo gave her head the barest hint of a nod and drew in a long raged breath.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I know. It's my parents, D," Scootaloo mumbled somberly. Instantly, she could feel the warm tug of Diamond's wing wrapping around her shoulder and she gave Scootaloo a gentle squeeze.

"They forgot to write you again?" She asked. She sighed. Scootaloo's parents forgetting that she existed was turning into a cruel joke. A running gag that had long since worn out its humor before it was funny in the first place. Diamond squeezed the other filly harder, and Scootaloo shook her head.

"N-No. It's not that. They did write," She said, her face unable to hide her excitement, her lips tugging up into a giddy grin. She held out a small pink card and thrust it towards Diamond's chest. Confusion took hold, and Diamond tilted her head, taking the card offered. It was a post card, addressed to Scootaloo with a picture of what looked like Neighagra Falls on the front and on the back...Diamond's eyes widened. It was a short message and a simple one, but Diamond had to read it again and a third time, just to be sure. Three simple words. Three tiny powerful words that formed a heart warming sentence: "We're coming home."

Diamond glanced up at Scootaloo, mouth agape, and Scootaloo wildly nodded her head, the joy racing through her now with no hints of stopping.

"T-They're comin' home D!" Scootaloo squealed. She grasped Diamond's forelegs in her own and lifted them up together, dancing around each other.

"HAHAHAHAA! THAT, IS, AWESOME!! SCOOTS! SCOOTS THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE REALLY COMING! THIS IS, I CAN'T, I'M SO...EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Diamond squealed, breaking away from the dance they were doing and rocketing into the air like a missile. Scootaloo gasped, following the silver filly with her eyes. She'd never seen Diamond actually fly before, but the girl hurled herself into the air like she'd been launched from a catapult. Astounded, Scootaloo watched the girl dip and weave through the air, her contrail kicking in after a few moments, and she began to loop wildly, jumping from point to point and drawing a picture in the sky. An image that looked surprisingly similar to Scootaloo's cutie-mark. When she was finished, and the image burned brightly in the night sky, Diamond plummeted from the air, slamming into the hillside only to roll down to the base. She sprawled out onto her back, still squealing in shock at the news Scootaloo had received.

"Diamond!! DIAMOND! Yo-You flew!!" Scootaloo shrieked bouncing down the hill to where Diamond was laying. Diamond cackled, and pointed up at the sky.

"Yeah I did! I can only fly when I'm not focused on my wings, and right now, I'm focused on how awesome this situation is, and how happy you'se are! This is GREAT!! Huh...I suppose with your rents in town it might take a while before you can sneak back out here to make wishes with me," Diamond mused, Scootaloo nodded her head.

"Well, yeah, but I probably won't be getting another wish for a while anyway," Scootaloo explained. Diamond tilted her head curiously.

"What do you mean by that? Why wouldn't you-" Diamond began, but Scootaloo cut her off with a wide grin. Of course. Of course, Scootaloo would have been wishing for her parents to come back! It was obvious and one of two things Scootaloo wanted most in the world.

"Don't worry, D. I'll figure something out! I'm not gonna leave you out here to make wishes all by yourself, that'd be lame! Sides, I want you to show me that thing you did in the air!""

"Aww, thanks Scootaloo! It's so great you'se parents is comin' home! The thing in the air, was my 'Starry Stride' It's kinda like a beacon for the Servants of Shadow to let them know stuff! Like, A star is my location, a check mark means I found what I was lookin' for, an 'X' means it's not here, and you'se cutie-mark symbol means how awesome it is my best friend's parents is coming home!" Diamond squealed, wrapping her foreleg around Scootaloo's shoulders for a tight squeeze.

"Sister," Scootaloo corrected, the grin on her face not faltering in the slightest.. Diamond scoffed.

"Ha, yeah right. We ain't sisters. You'se got 'rents. You don't need me no more ta comfort you'se. There ain't nothing you need no solace for!" Diamond pointed out. Scootaloo shook her head.

"You can fly, I can't. I have parent's, you don't. Besides, being sisters is more than just solace. We get to share good times, too! And, you were so focused on me, that you forgot you couldn't fly and I got to watch you do one of your tricks!. We both got what we wanted tonight, because we're sisters!" Scootaloo, squeaked, the warm grin wrapped around her muzzle was enough to make hug her again. Harder and tighter this time.

"Guess you'se got a point, Scoots. We wouldn't be great sisters if it was only times that we was sad that we needed each other. Thanks," Diamond said quietly. Scootaloo nodded her head and wrapped her foreleg around Diamond's shoulders, giving her a warm squeeze.

"So, now that I've got my parents back, D, I think it's time we get to work on findin' yours," Scootaloo grinned and Diamond's echoed.