She had finally fallen asleep after hours of listening to the sound of water drops falling from the ceiling of her cell. It had been a struggled to find a comfortable position to lay on the stone floor without her chains rubbing and chafing her like many a night before. It has been a long while since she had gotten any actual sleep, and even longer since she had dreamed during her time spent sleeping. But whenever she did dream, it was always about the past, sometimes about the happy times before the war… but almost always about the nightmares that had ensued the invasion. However with Princess Luna gone, she had found it most difficult to avoid these nightmares. In fact most nights her dreams consisted of the same instance of the past. The moment her hell started… the moment when everypony was taken or worse, killed. But tonight she found herself dreaming of a day when she was playing at the beach with her friends, The CutieMark Crusaders. They were having a blast building sand castles and swimming together.
“TAG YOU’RE IT!” Sweetie Belle yelled as she ran passed her and bumped her shoulder. Scootaloo giggled and took off towards Apple Bloom. “Look out Apple Bloom, she’s gonna tag you!” Sweetie Belle called from behind the rock she was hiding behind.
“Ah don’t think so.” Apple Bloom said as she jumped to her hooves and jumped behind the sand castle she was in the middle of making. Scootaloo rounded the pile of sand at break neck speed but screeched to a halt when she noticed Apple Bloom had disappeared.
“You can’t hide from me, I will find you!” Scootaloo snickered as she looked around for the yellow filly. Scotaloo saw something out of the corner of her eye towards the water as a smile crept across her snout. “Hmmm, where could she be I wonder?” She looked towards the water and saw the tips of Apple Bloom's bow just barley sticking out of the water. She slowly made her way towards her hiding companion as she said “Well I guess I’ll go look somewhere else if she isn’t here.” The small orange Pegasus jumped into the air and flapped her wings furiously over Apple Bloom just in time for her to stick her head out of the water. “GOTCHYA!!” She yelled as she splashed down right behind her. Scootaloo reached her hoof out to tag Apple Bloom but she felt nothing but water. When she opened her eyes however she was no longer at the beach. Confused the Pegasus looked around and saw nothing but water… no sand beneath her, no Apple Bloom, she was alone. Starting to panic she rushed upwards and gasped for breath as she broke the surface. Looking all around her, She realized she was in the middle of an endless expanse of water.
“Hello!” Scootaloo called, hoping to hear an answer. But to her dismay all she heard was the echo of her own voice. Suddenly, Scootaloo felt somepony grab one of her back hooves and pull down. “Gakk” Was all the mare was able to get out as she was dragged under. Looking down while thrashing about, she paused in horror as she saw how has grabbed her. It was him… the one that had brought so much pain in her recent years of her journey. She didn’t know his name, but she would never forget that face. Especially since the scar that ran from his forehead to his left cheek was her doing. She tried to scream but forgot she was under water. Scootaloo stopped and stared at him as he began to laugh.
“Now that I have you, you will never be free. You will die here pony filth, but not before I get what I want from you.” He said sternly whilst brandishing a rather large knife. “And believe me… I WILL get what I want!” He almost yelled as he thrust the knife at Scootaloo, who was still kicking and attempting to scream.
Scootaloo shot up from her position on the floor, gasping for breath and panting heavily. It took her a few moments to calm herself, but even after she was calm it was an evident challenge to stop staring at her shaking hooves. “It was only a dream…. Thank Celestin it was only a dream.” She said finally taking her eyes off of her hooves. She looked around her cell for what had to have been the hundredth time, but this time she felt as if she was being watched. She decided to look again, this time scanning ever so carefully. Her eyes searching every corner of the room and even out into the dark hall outside her cell, the feeling was almost all but gone. Just as she was about to lay down and try to sleep again a shadow flickered just outside the cell door.
“Hello… Who’s there?” She called, not sure if an answer was going to be given. About a moment of silence passed, Scootaloo still staring towards the cell door, when finally she got her response.
“So, you’re finally awake. I’ve been waiting for a chance to talk to you one on one for a while now. I can’t believe it’s taken my people this long to capture the elusive Miss Shade Stalker.” He paused for a moment, and then his face became visible as he struck a match to light his cigarette. Her eyes grew wide as she realized who had spoken. She could never forget a face like that, the face with the long scar. “Now what to do with you…” He spoke as he took a long draw from his cigarette. He blew the smoke in her direction, the red glow making his face more ominous than ever. The two stared at each other for what seemed like forever, eventually sending shivers down her spine.
“I’ll never talk you know.” She finally responded, breaking the silence for her own sake “There is nothing I have to say to the likes of you.” The mare continued, never breaking eye contact.
“We shall see.” Was all he said. He took a black box out of his pocket and spoke into it. “Jax, Smith, come to the cell and escort our prisoner to the chamber.”
“On our way Boss.” Said a voice from the box. “We have plenty of ways to make our prisoners talk, we will get the location of where you hid the chest. I’ll see you soon” The scarred man said with a grin as he took his leave. Once he was gone, Scootaloo sighed with relief. I’ve got to get out of here. She thought to herself, then she remembered something. She took a metal pick she had keepingher hair up and started to pick the locks to the shackles on her back hooves. Hearing voices coming from the hall she swore and buried the pick in the dirt besides her just in time for the others to get to the cell.
“Well well, look who’s up. We’re gonna have a hell of a show getting information out of you. Said the one on the left as he unlocked the door. He walked towards her, keys in hand, and shoved her to the ground while unlocking the chain on her back hooves that were keeping her from moving around. “Get up and move.” The other one said, holding the cell door open. She shakily got up and left the cell. The chains still attached to her front hooves dragging on the ground were making it difficult to walk. After a few moments of silence, one of her guards spoke. “Hold up just a sec.” Scootaloo turned around and he was kneeling over his shoes, proceeding to tie them. The other guard turned around towards him and said “Really? You can’t wait until we get there?”
“No, I don’t want to trip Jax.” He said, not looking up. Scootaloo shook her head and thought to herself, “idiots.” She then took advantage of this moment and bucked the two of them as hard as she could. One hoof hit Smith directly in the head, and he fell over dead in a crumpled pile. The other hit Jax right in the groin, making him fall to the ground. Without hesitating she took the chains and swung at Jax, also hitting him in the head, knocking him unconscious. Scootaloo looked over her guards for a moment, shook her head, and took off running down the corridor.
Meanwhile in the chamber…
He stood by a table in the chamber, a rag in his hand. he was busy wiping the dust off of his torture devices. He had other torture chambers but this specific room he was saving for a very special guest. A wicked smile was carved along his face while he was cleaning his tools, almost excited at the fact he was finally going to be able to use this room. ‘She should be here any minute now.’ The man thought as he sat down in a chair, facing the door. Silence overcame the room as his mind drifted to the horrible things he had in mind for the prisoner. After a few minutes went by his daydream was interrupted by the chamber door suddenly bursting open.
“Boss!” Jax said in a raspy voice. “The prisoner got away.” he panted, wiping blood away from his mouth as it ran down his face. “WHAT!! How in the hell did this happen?!? And where is Smith?” The Boss roared, clearly enraged by this news.
“Smith is dead Sir. She killed him as she made her escape.” Jax replied, fear overtaking him as his Bosses face got angrier with every word. “I will deal with you later..” The Boss growled as he nearly ran past Jax. He took out his radio and flipped it on. “Prisoner escape in progress. Sound the alarm and find that bitch before she gets away. I will not have failure go unpunished.” Within seconds of his orders he heard the alarm going off and shouts of men all around him as the search began. ‘I will not let her get away from me this time, I need to find out where those graves are hidden.’
After speeding down the corridor for what seemed like ages with nothing but silence accompanying her, she heard the sound of an alarm starting to go off. ‘well that took longer than expected’ She thought as she picked up the pace, looking around every corner for an exit of some kind. From what she could tell their base was set in a cave system or maybe it was an old mine. Scootaloo slowed down at the thought of it being a mine. She couldn't hear any of the guards anywhere around her, so she started looking in rooms very carefully. after coming across a few empty rooms Her suspicions were confirmed when she opened a door and came across some ancient looking mining equipment. hard hats with lights, shovels and pickaxes. After a glance in both directions she decided to go in and close the door behind her. Scootaloo sat down and shook herself. “Well that happened.” She said allowed while examining the mining equipment before her. Reaching over and grabbing a pick-axe with her mouth, she began to pry at her shackles. After about ten minutes of struggling and a few scrapes and bruises later all of the shackles have been removed. She sighed with relief, but her eyes still had a serious look about them. After all she still had to find a way out of the base and get back to her camp. Luckily before her capture there was a moment where she was able to hid her pack from her captors. Scootaloo slowly made her way towards the door and put an ear to it, listening carefully for and guards. After a minute of hearing nothing she decided it was time to go. Opening the door as quietly as possible She poked her head out and looked in both directions. No one was there. ‘Awesome, time to make a run for it’ Scootaloo thought as she took off down the corridor, going at a slow gallop, not wanting to make a lot of noise. As she traversed through the cave the thought came to her that maybe she knew which mine this was. All She would need to do is find the entrance to the mine and locate the office to find out where exactly in Equestria she was. That would make her life a whole lot easier. Suddenly, She gave a shout as a guard jumped from around a corner and collided with her. The two fell to the floor in a twist of flesh and fur while the guard was shouting. “I found her. I found her.” Scootaloo wriggled and writhed furiously. Her resistance was meet with a punch to her ribcage. Instantly, her reflexes reacted and she kicked him hard in his leg. The resulting pain caused him to lose his grip on her and she turned and punched him with all her might in the face sending him reeling back with a bloody nose. Scootaloo got up and ran for it, going in the opposite direction from where the guard came. She could hear the sound of shouting coming from behind her, but she dared to not look back. After passing a few more hallways it hit her. The smell of fresh air. That caused her to pick up her pace even more, galloping faster than she had ever gone before. The shouting was getting quieter the longer she galloped, with that she took a risk and turned around and saw no one behind her. She gave a sigh of relief and turned yet another corner and thats when she saw it.
“The exit!!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Her wings fluttered at the sight, jingeling the last of her chains. There was some light, so the sun must have been rising to start the new day. She was about 100 feet away from freedom, a huge smile on her face. She noticed the was a door right next to the entrance of the mine, and just as she noticed it, the door blew open and four figures stepped out of it and stood facing her. Scootaloo screeched to a halt just a stones throw away. Then the figure closest to her gave a small laugh.
“ Did you really think you could get away from me that easy?” The Scarred Man said as three others turned to close the gate. “You should have known better. Now I am really going to enjoy this, But here. I would hate for this to be unfair.” He tossed her a set of keys as he proceeded to remove his dust leather jacket. “Those are for your wings. You have no chance at winning, so you deserve every weapon at your disposal.”
Scootaloo quickly took the keys and removed the chains from her wings. Once they were on the ground she looked at the man and laughed. She laughed so long that the guards who were chasing her had caught up to them. She continued to laugh even though she was completely surrounded. “What in the fuck is so funny??!!” The scarred man alomost screamed.
“You shouldnt have done that.” Was all Scootaaloo said. She then stood up, closed her eyes, opened her wings, and started to concentrate. It only took a few seconds, but her wings started to glow a candecant yellowish-gold. The scarred man yelled something inaudible but she must have been the only one not to heat because every person charged at her, but it was to late. a huge ball of energy shot from the front of her. sending the people in front of her flying through the gate and the people behind her down the corridor. Once everything had settled down and Scootaloo could not hear anything coming from her assailants, she opened her eyes but had to squint from the light of the morning sun coming through what was once the closed entrance to the mine. She took a look around and saw nothing but bodies piled together in both directions. The blast wasnt enough to kill anyone, at least she hoped it wasn’t. Scootaloo proceeded to close her wings and start walking towards her freedom. She felt the warmness of the sun on her face, making her feel relieved and calm. Passing the gate she stopped and took a deep breath, when she felt something weakly grab her leg. The mare looked down and saw the scarred man holding her leg in place. She could have easily broke free, but she felt compelled to let him speak.
“What-what the hell are you?” He asked wheezing, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. “Never mind… I-I dont care. I will get you one of these days. Enjoy your life while you can because I will get what I came here to find. Then i will destroy everything you care about in this pathetic world you call home.” He loooked up at her, hatred in his eyes. She had no idea why he hated this world so much. In a way he pittied him, but she was losing time when there was none to waste.
“Everything and everypony that I have loved is aready dead. There is nothing else you can take from me.” With that She opened her wings, and with one powerful thrust she took off. knocking the man unconcious. As Scootaloo rose in the sky she looked down and knew where she was. She was only about fifty miles away from where she was captured. With a smirk on her face she took off towards where her only possesions of the old days were hidden. She flew off as fast as her wings could carry her, without those items it felt as if she wasn’t herself. They may be only memories now, but she needed those memories to remind herself why she was doing what she was doing. This epic quest she departed on all those years ago, there was a chance to see them again. It was a small chance, but small was all she needed to believe. So she had to keep on going… for the future of Equestria depended on her and her alone.
It was about midday when Scootaloo had reached her destination on the edge of the everfree forest. The trip took her a little longer but that had been her intention. She was still exhausted from her escape from where she was imprisoned so she decided to take it easy. Once she had landed near where she believed to have hidden her pack, she shook herself free from the dew that had collected on her fur during her flight. Scootaloo let out a short yawn and tipped her head up straight as she started looking around for the signs she left herself. After about ten minutes of walking she saw a scratch on a tree she had made prior to her capture. Once she got to the tree she took an immediate left towards a few boulders that were protruding from the ground. The boulders were not that big, but they were big enough for creatures only with wings to be able to reach the top. She fluttered up to the top of the boulders and sure enough her things were right where she had left them.
“Thank Celestia, it's all still here.” Was all she said. She opened her saddle bags, just in case, to make sure everything was still in there. It was, and she pulled out a necklace that had an old faded red colored wooden wheel on it. It was a small wheel, just big enough for a scooter. Her childhood scooter in fact. The one that Rainbow Dash had given her on her thirteenth birthday. It was the best gift that Scootaloo had ever gotten, but it was all that was left of it. and all she had to remember her adopted big sister by.
She grabbed it up with her mouth and gently tossed it up and over her head. Once the necklace was securely on, she put the rest of her saddlebags on and fluttered down off the boulder. Now she had to get on her way, but she hesitated for a moment. She would have to cross the Everfree either on foot or by air. It was a dangerous trek, but it had to be done. The more dangerous creatures would be sleeping during the day, so they would be active at night. it would be foolish for her to sleep at night when one of those creatures could easily kill her while she slept. she she decided to sleep now, and fly over the forest at night. It wasn’t often that she had to traveled through the forest, but when she did, she made sure she was as cautious as she could be. With that she made a small pillow out of fallen leaves and layed down to rest.
__________________
Scootaloo woke up just before sunset. She yawned and stretched the way most ponies do, and shook herself of the remaining leaves on her body.She took some dinner out of her bags and ate a little. She gave herself a half an hour to eat and wake up before leaving. After eating she took a journal out of her bags that one of her companions gave to her before she started her journey two weeks ago. It was a journal that had belonged to Star Swirl the Bearded, telling of one of his magnificent journeys. This specific journey was that of him exploring the land and discovering if certain myths and pony-lore happened to be actual events that had transpired, or if they were nothing more than fairy tales. She had gotten to the myth specifically about the elements of harmony and all the potential powers that the elements themselves could manifest and grant unto their specific bearers.
“ After a few days of flying I finally decided to rest my wings on the edge of Saddle Arabia. The ancient ruins are not far now, maybe a half of a days journey due South through the desert. After I found incriminating evidence detailing the location of more information on the Elements of Harmony, I decided to head to these ruins myself to find out exactly what information I could gather. I do hope the information consists of how to better harness the Elements for the good of Equestria. The hidden scrap I found depicted there to be a false wall somewhere in said ruins, now that will be the challenge. I have no idea where this wall is, or what hides behind it, but I have to find it, of it still exists that is..."
Scootaloo was deep into reading and had lost track of time, only for a short while. It had failed to come to her attention that rain clouds had moved into the area and it had started to sprinkle lightly. This had snapped her out of her reading. She put the journal back into her bags, latched them shut, and slowly took off into the air flying across the start of the forest just above the trees.
The Everfree Forest was almost twice the size it was when she was a little filly, even at the highest altitude her body let her fly she could not see the other side where the ruins of Ponyville resided. That was her destination, more specifically the library where Princess Twilight Sparkle had first lived when she came to Ponyville. Thinking about where she needed to go brought back memories of her childhood. Memories that brought a tear to her eye. She didn't bother wiping it away due to the rain steadily getting heavier. The trees below her passing by in the dark looked rather beautiful. She slowed her flying a little to to enjoy the sight, which calmed her down and allowed her to focus on her plan. Contemplating on what she read before leaving her camp. Still looking downward she came across a small clearing where she noticed a wild deer getting chased by a timber wolf. Even though she knew it was a horrible experience for the deer, such is the way of nature. She smiled, however, knowing that with everything that has happened in Equestria the Everfree Forest had been untouched. No match for the invading forces, the Forest had almost grown to Canterlot. The rain had grown even heavier and had started to worry her so she decided to try and find somewhere to land till it had passed.
After about a half an hour she came to a protrusion in the ground and she saw a cave entrance. It was there she would decide to ride out the storm. She glided down and landed right in front of the cave. She had to look up at the sheer size of the entrance, it was much larger than what it looked like from the air. After admiring the enormous cave entrance she turned around and started examining the surrounding area for any signs of recent movement. The last thing that she needed was to run into one of the Everfrees notorious creatures. After about ten minutes of examining the area from what she could tell there hadn't been any animals around for a long time. It was then she decided to head into the cave. Once out of the weather she reached into her saddle bags and took out this thing she stole from the Invaders not too long ago. It had a switch on it that, when flipped on, produced a light from one end. She decided to call it a flip light. She held the flip light with her mouth and looked around the cave, now flooded with light. She walked for a while before coming to the end of the cave it wasn't a very deep cave, but was lengthy enough to be dry at the end. She set the flip light down on a rock and preceded to fetch her bedroll from her bags. After getting everything set up she settled herself on the bed and started reading where she had left off earlier that day.
“...I have finally reached the ruins, it was more difficult than I anticipated. Reason being is the ruins had been built alongside the wall of an enormous gorge. I didn't find much but what I did find were some hieroglyphs on a wall in what I believe used to be the throne room. It's going to take some time to decipher them, but I do hope they lead to something promising... "
Scootaloo's reading was cut short by what she thought sounded like a latch, but she was in a cave. There couldn't be a latch here of all places. She decided to brush it off as a falling rock and after her paranoia passed she decided to call it a night and sleep for a while. Tossing her flip light into her bags and setting them close to her bed roll, she laid down and closed her eyes.
Scootaloo awoke suddenly as a flash of light suddenly came from the end of the cave. She was startled and confused at the sudden surprise. The mare shot up to look at the direction of the light, but winced from the pain the light caused her eyes. She could hear voices but there were too many to depict what they were saying. “Who's there and where did you-” Scootaloo started to question her new invading friends. But was sent flying back a few dozen feet. She let out a shout as she collided with the wall of the cave and let out a groan when she hit the ground. With a terrified look on her face the winded mare faced her attackers with disbelief. She was being surrounded by who knows how many of them. In the center of the group, however, one of the figures had a horn. A horn that was glowing! It was then that she realized all the figures now looked like ponies… but they were different. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but the shapes were very familiar and pony-like, she has definitely seen it before.
‘Wh-what… magic?!?! Who the hell is this? Why are they attacking me if they have magic?’ Scootaloo thought in a panic.
“I'm not going to ask you again. Who are you and why the hell are you attacking me?” Scootaloo said raising her voice. She was trying to stand back up, but didn’t see one of them coming from the side. It took advantage of noticed and charged. Scootaloo saw it almost upon her and jumped out of the way, but wasn’t fast enough. They both hit the ground hard in a pile of limbs and dirt. Somepony shouted and, as if on cue, the rest charged in and jumped on her. She tried to fight back, but the pain in her back only caused her to shout. Scootaloo looked up and saw rope encased in a greenish aura.
‘I’ve seen that color magic before but… but it’s impossible, I thought they all died a long time ago?!?’
“ Hurry and tie her up, we need to take her to the queen immediately " Scootaloo heard one of them hiss to the rest. “And you, grab this ponies stuff and bring it with us.” The same figure spat out. Hearing the word queen just confirmed her suspicions. They had to be Changelings, and just about a hundred questions started to fill her mind. Scootaloo was snapped back to reality when she was jerked into the air, her body surrounded with the green magic. They started through the hidden door when Scootaloo spoke up
“Where are you taking me?” She demanded. “And are you really Changelings? No pony has seen any Changelings in almost 300 years, where the hell have you been all this time?” Scootaloo asked all the Changelings, hoping for an answer from at least one of them.
“Unlike you Ponies, we got smart and hid under ground. Now enough talking, you’ll have plenty of time to talk when you meet our Queen.” The Changeling said while giving her an annoyed look. Scootaloo looked back towards the cave they had left and saw the Changeling with her belongings closing a set of double doors that were disguised as the wall itself. It was so well crafted that if she didn’t just come through it herself, she would have never guessed it was there. Now she turned her attention towards the direction they were heading. They were walking down a rather roughly carved corridor lit with torches lined down the walls on both sides. She let her gaze follow the torches until they were a blur, however, she couldn’t see the end of the corridor.
‘Oh this is just perfect.’ She thought. ‘This can’t possibly end well for me.’
