A Lealdade Dela...

Chapters

Timeline I: Tumbling
Timeline II: The Chicken's Reoccurring Wish
Timeline III: Bluebird's Disbelief

Timeline I: Tumbling

A series of pants echoed through a dark forest as an orange pegasus filly with a purple mane and tail ran through, trying to find the way out. She was in a forest, that contained tall black trees with thick sharp branches, grey bushes, and a pale dirt road. There were no animals, no other ponies, just a grey monochromatic forest with a threatening atmosphere. The only light came from the blood-red moon as it shined upon the miserable place.

Scootaloo turned left and right, but the wide tree-filled area never seemed to end. It seemed it was stretching, preventing her from escaping. Wanting to keep her in this grim environment forever. The pegasus could hear dragging hooves following her at a rapid pace.

It was there. And it wasn't far behind her. She glanced behind her, only to squeal in fear, turn back around, and run faster.

Scootaloo began to panic as she realized she had no way to leave the place. Tears formed in her eyes and were pushed backward by the passing force. Her whimpers bounced about the strange place.

"No...I don't to be here!... I don't want..."

Scootaloo suddenly stopped when she noticed the noise of the creature following her had vanished. She whipped her head around, only to find nothing. She then looked left and right, desperately trying to find the exit. She needed to run, but her hooves wouldn't move, staying planted on the ground out of fear. Scootaloo then crouched down and allowed her body to curl up, protecting her from whatever might harm her. She was so focused on her fear, she didn't notice the scraping and hoof steps coming up behind her.

The filly yelped and curled up tighter as her ears perked up to something hard falling behind her with a loud thump. She waited for a sound, a feeling, a sense to let her know the creature was still there. Nothing. Moments passed and Scootaloo heard and sensed nothing. Slowly her body uncurled herself and she turned around to see whatever was behind her.

Eyes went wide in horror as she saw what it was. Who it was.

Bloody and limp, her soulless eyes staring through her. The body was broken and bloody and her mouth agape in shock. Still, she remained unmoving and lifeless.

Her mouth opened to scream, but choked gasps were all she could make.

Scootaloo woke with a gasp of fear, shooting into a sitting position and eyes violently looking around her surroundings. She noticed reality and covered her mouth in shock with one hoof, the other continuing to try to protect herself from something. She quietly cried in her room as memories of the nightmare flooded her mind. The never-ending trees, the feeling of dread, and the colorful rotting corpse of her dear idol and older sister.

This was the fifth time she had a nightmare involving the decaying body.

She remembered so clearly the torn and ripped sky blue fur, her wings so bent bone stuck out, and lastly, her beautiful mane and tail covered in mud all sitting and soaking in a pool of crimson blood.

Scootaloo remembered the events. The terrible and sudden rainy storm, and the finding of the rainbow mare, and many other ponies. No one had expected the snowstorm later that day, every pony barely making it to their own home. But Rainbow Dash, with the other pegasi, had attempted to take care of the sudden weather change. Nopony had expected it to cost their own lives. It was all just a hideous permanent image in her screaming mind.

"No!.." She whispered, her body growing heavy with each rich and heaving breath. The filly attempted to think of the events as much as she could, not wanting to suffer the pain that came with remembering the painful events. She attempted to move onto a different memory, only going back to when Dash took her under her wing and became her honorary big sister. When Rainbow Dash had done the legendary sonic rainboom, causing colors to bounce about in the sky. Rainbow told her she didn't need to fly to have a purpose when the mare herself could do amazing feats and tricks in the sky.

The orange pegasus began to shake violently as more pleasant memories of the brash speedster pegasus filled her mind. When Rainbow had praised her for the tricks and talent that she and her friends had performed in the Equestria Games. Watching the mare fly and perform amazing stunts alongside her dream team. Rainbow Dash is there by her side, being the Element of Loyalty. She started to remember parts of the mare, that was never forgotten.

Her energetic rose-colored eyes, her brash and confident attitude, that trademark cocky grin, her friendship with herself and the others.

And her undying loyalty. It was her one defying trait. It was what made her a very dear friend and a very true sister.

Scootaloo bent over and buried her snout in her blanket, letting out a wavering scream. While she was on her soft and pleasant bed, she was surrounded by darkness, with the only light coming from the stars through her window. She now sat up, tears staining her fur cheeks, as she recalled more memories. Rainbow's funeral was held in light and gentle rain, which was oddly hours after her death, hours after she was found. She had now been deceased for two months and a half. The filly's wings shuttered as she traced back to another memory.

She remembered Rainbow Dash's pet, Tank. Fluttershy had agreed to take care of him after his owner's death. The turtle had refused to eat or come out of his shell in any way. He had died despite Fluttershy's desperate attempts to get him to stay.

The orange pony began to sob quietly in her darkroom, she continued to wish and pray for another chance at seeing the pony who truly looked out for her. But Scootaloo knew the cruel truth behind her very desires. Rainbow Dash was dead. She had been dead for two months moving on to three. The same rainbow-maned mare that stuck by her side since that fateful camping trip.

She was true, loyal, and now dead.

Fatigue and exhaustion came and dragged Scootaloo into the empty black void of her mind. No dreams, only darkness.

Rainbow Dash's death had affected the Elements of Harmony in their ways. With Applejack not bucking apples as she used to, occasionally looking up in the sky for a cyan pegasus slacking in her job. Rarity had sobbed and mourned, and now she's not as cheery making designs and stitching clothing anymore. Pinkie Pie had tried to cheer all of them up, without feeling the pain herself. Twilight blamed herself for what happened and fell into a cycle of self-loathing. Fluttershy had occasionally been seen crying and seemed to distance herself in her home.

It had affected all of them in their ways. Scootaloo had noticed but was too tired to change how she had been to her friends. The filly seemed to push her friends away and distance herself from others.

She trotted through the forest. It was a very dangerous place to go in, but Scootaloo felt it was the only place where she could get her to wish granted. She also had an idea to visit Zecora, a zebra sorcerous that Ponyville befriended, maybe she had a certain spell to bring Rainbow Dash back to life. It was a crazy plan, but Scootaloo would take the risks. She didn't ask her friends to accompany her, she knew they would tell her and try to comfort her, and she also knew she was just as terrified of the unstable magic of the forest around her. Still, she was scared and even a little nostalgic, and now she still felt very uneasy. But that didn't deter her from her journey, she still had hope and she was still determined. She had thought maybe the walk would get her mind off of her grief-ridden thoughts. Maybe notice some harmless, funny words to use referring to the Everfree, animals, and interesting, if not deadly, plants.

However she wouldn't have noticed any animals or interesting plants to distract her anyway, the idea had failed. The memories of the mare had now become a sort of obsession, repeating over in her thoughts like a broken record everywhere she went. The unique rainbow mane of the mare. The rasp of her voice. Her bright and big and beautiful wings. The tricks she pulled in the sky. Her sonic rainboom. Her sister-like relationship with Scootaloo.

Her loyalty.

She recalled Dash's corpse, remembering perfectly where the wounds and damage were. The mare had small and very little cuts and bruises scattered all over her legs and a cut on her left cheek. A huge gash ran down her stomach and curled toward her back, it was stretched open just a bit. Whatever animal had broken the mares left wing, making her unable to fly away. They were too late when they found her near the woods, she had died from the sadistic wounds.

She had seen part of the corpse, she wasn't the one to find it, but she had seen it while helping to search for the weather ponies, along with her best friends. She couldn't help but stare at the unsettling sight. Her world had shattered when she understood the sight before her eyes. They hadn't noticed her at first, but when they heard her sobs, she was dragged away by Rarity and Applejack, who couldn't look anymore, along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, so she couldn't see any more of the gruesome image. But it was too late, she had seen most of it, and it was now imprinted on her brain.

The odd thing was that when Scootaloo asked her, Fluttershy, hesitant at first and wanting to forget, said she couldn't match them to any animal she knew. A shiver went down her spine at that fact.

Another very odd thing was that it was a violent, unplanned storm during the middle of summer.

The blood on the mare's hooves showed she had tried to fight for life in vain but eventually succumbed. Scootaloo began to feel a bitter feeling. Strong and very, very bitter. She soon realized it wasn't directed to anyone other than her. The harsh resentment and strong bitterness she felt. Her self-loathing was unlike anything before, and it was growing in her very soul. But she could do nothing, it was an illusion and not in reality. And her head was a pit filled with discorded thoughts during the day and ghastly nightmares in the night.

It was a prison cell, reality coming to free her for only a few moments, before being forced into the torturing alcoves of her psyche. Lately, Scootaloo found herself dragging her body around to continue her daily tasks, and she wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and savor the sweet dreams and the presence she had but now lost. Wishing this was a dream, a figment of her imagination and not reality. Her wishes were never fulfilled.

She knew Rainbow couldn't come back, even if the rainbow-maned mare wanted to. Rainbow Dash always liked to win, whether they were games or competitions, and now, she had won the game of life. Reaching to the end and being greeted by the grim reaper. The orange filly and the others continued to mourn for the grim reward the blue pegasus received at the end of this twisted game. The darkness continued to surround her in deep grief. It spread around her like water, drowning her in a pool of hate, exhaustion, and resentment. But Scootaloo didn't fight, she was far too tired. Emotionally and physically.

She didn't go to her friends for help. And she couldn't bring herself to go to any of the Elements, because she knew they felt it too, no matter how hard they tried to hide it. She noticed they had meetings and still hung out, but they weren't the same without the boastful mare sharing her pride. It wasn't the same in anything anymore.

The mare cared for and believed in Scootaloo. She encouraged her to keep trying, to never give up on something the filly found important. She trailed off in her thoughts. The darkness of grief and regret seemed to surround her and threatened to crush her in its cold embrace. Nothing was joyful and cheery, no matter how many times her friends or the older mares tried to cheer her up. She knew they cared but without Rainbow there to speak certain words, or to ruffle her mane, or even wrap her warm wing around her in an embrace, she felt as if all her goals were pathetic and more unreachable than ever. To encourage her to keep trying at her goals. To believe in herself.

Scootaloo would give anything to have that hope again. To be able to reach the mare of loyalty and to never let her go. The darkness was getting closer. She continued to doubt herself each day. Telling herself that she will never fly, telling herself Rainbow was never coming back, but that changed when the idea to ask Zecora for a nearly impossible favor, but she knew the resider of the forest could most likely do it, she had done many incredible things before.

Rainbow will come back, Scootaloo was sure of that. After the spell, she and Rainbow and all of their friends will be happy.

The darkness reached out for her, having the intent of trapping her in its harsh pool of doubt and guilt.

A growl met her ears, footsteps and the sound of twigs snapping under the weight of a creature brought her attention. She looked towards the source of the noise, and her heartbeat was violent out of fear. It was as if the darkness and grief have manifested themselves into a vicious beast, a timberwolf, and its glowing green eyes seemed to stare into her as it glared at the young pony. It slowly, menacingly moved towards its frozen prey. Scootaloo's fight or flight response only decided on one thing. Flee.

Pushing her exhaustion aside, she began to run. There wasn't a destination, just a goal. A goal to get away from the pain, the sadness, the madness. Away from her memories, and away from the rapidly gaining monster behind her. She began to sob out loud now, as the darkness and creature of the Everfree continued to follow her like a deadly disease. It was inescapable, following her where ever she went, no matter how many turns she made, seeming to laugh and mock the pathetic pony. But the worst thing about it was that Scootaloo knew it was there. Her heart pounded faster as she still heard the savage noises of the animal, she ran faster. She only wished she had brought her scooter with her this time.

She knew about reality. About all of the self-hatred, she would put on herself. The constant berating she made at her reflection. The horrible nightmares all being something other than her own mind's twisted creation. Her hooves carried her like the wind, surprisingly faster than her pursuer, but not fast enough to shake it off her tail.

Anything in the world made no sense, yet everything in her warped psyche did no matter how unfair or twisted it appeared.

The pony wasn't paying attention to a wide hole in the ground. She had traveled miles from what she originally planned. Traveled past where other ponies would have normally gone at this time of day if they ever even went at all. She tripped and stumbled, her scream cut off as her body hit the harsh ground below after many seconds. A loud crack rang through and echoed throughout the alcove. Pain seared throughout her back as white flashed her vision. Her cry became an ugly moan as she now lay on her side. The timberwolf that chased her skidded to a halt and stared at its lost prey. It looked tempted to jump down there and finish the job, but something kept it from doing that very action, something emanating from the alcove that it seemed to fear or be cautious of.

Its cowardly side had won. With a snort, the wolf turned away and looked for other unfortunate creatures to attack and stalk.

Scootaloo could do nothing but lie where she landed, her pants slowly lost speed until they became shaky steady breaths. Darkness was the last thing she knew as she slipped into mind-numbing unconsciousness.

Sobs echoed in the wide library of Twilight Sparkle's castle of friendship. As the purple alicorn sobbed quietly hugging Fluttershy for an attempt for comfort, Scootaloo watched from a distance. The orange filly had come by to ask Twilight for any way to bring the mare back only to find her in the library clinging onto the yellow pegasus, crying her heart out. It was later revealed, that twilight was deep in grief, and was looking for some spell to bring the deceased speedster back, something Scootaloo had wanted. Something she had changed her mind about asking after seeing this. The purple princess had broken down, hugging the Element of Kindness for comfort. Scootaloo saw the uncertainly on the pink maned mares face, from that she saw that Fluttershy didn't know if it was working, she was too deep in grief.

It had been only six days since Dash's death. She felt pain in her heart every time she traced back to that fact. The purple alicorn's body shook violently with each heaving sob that escaped her. Scootaloo soon left after doing nothing but watching this sad display, unable to watch anymore.

It hurt the young pony to see and hear her friends like this. But Scootaloo felt she could do nothing. She felt useless.

A simple blink and the purple mare and the wondrous library were gone, the Sugar Cube Corner bakery replaced the scenery. The Elements of Harmony sat with her around the round wooden table in silence. Applejacks head was tilted down, her hat covering her eyes. Rarity had her head rested on the table, she had tears building up in her eyes. Twilight's mane was a bit disheveled and she looked exhausted. Fluttershy had tears brimming in her eyes as well and her body shook with sadness. Lastly, Pinkie Pie's hair was straight, her smile upside down.

All of them had forlorn expressions printed on their faces. And Scootaloo was watching from the window outside.

It had been four days since Rainbow's death. There was nothing sweet about this fact.

A blink and the sight before her was once again replaced by another. It was cold. She was in a seat among many others. Sad mutters and sobbing were what she heard. The rainbow mare's funeral was colorless and empty.

It was warm, but Scootaloo felt cold.

Scootaloo shivered. Many ponies came. The Mane Six, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the weather team, the Wonderbolts, and many others.

It had been one day since Rainbow's death. And it was anything but awesome.

The ground cracked and broke beneath her, swallowing Scootaloo into its mass of pain and darkness.

And she opened her eyes.

She was awake.

She was in pain. Her wing hurt unbearably. She was alive, but she was in deep pain. She slowly tried to sit up, but only cause more pain to her wing. She winced and cried out in immense pain. She took a look at her wing.

Blood.

Bone.

Her wing was broken and was now bleeding heavily. A pool of blood was around and underneath her, painting her fur and parts of her mane crimson. In agony, she looked around her. There was only blood-soaked mud and rocks that scraped her hooves lightly. A very faint blue light was shone faintly at her. She felt drawn to it, in a way. She then snapped out of her trance. She looked over herself. The wide hole she tumbled down was there, but only stars filled the sky.

The night was here, stars looking like tiny holes in the dark-colored sky.

She attempted to stand, but only fell back down, giving out sounds of agony. When she stopped she looked above once more and called out. She coughed but managed to speak, her voice cracking due to her dry throat.

"H-hello?... Is anypony out there? Sweetie Belle... Apple Bloom?...Anyone?"

No response, nothing. Only stars, and only silence. She began to cry at her situation. She was scared, hungry, and thirsty. Not to mention her now broken wing. Her sobs echoed within the cavern, with nobody to hear it. She didn't want this. She wanted to be in her soft bed. In her sister's embrace. Not inside a deep cave with uncomfortable dry dirt and rocks. Hours are what it took and felt like for the filly before she reached and grasped the dirt, moving her hooves underneath her.

She had no choice, if she couldn't fly, or ask anyone to help her, she'll have to go through the tunnel. Shakily, slowly, she stood up and began to limp and stumbled towards the gentle blue light that awaited her. Her loud and shaky pants echoed throughout the tunnel. The light came closer and closer, her hooves carrying her heavy body. She felt weak. Fragile.

Like glass.

Not even halfway she almost collapsed in utter exhaustion. But she steadied herself and continued. In her head, she was almost there, and she wasn't going to stop now. She was so far from the light. She silently sobbed as her thoughts became a tornado.

Great, now look what you did Scootaloo! Of course you just HAD to go and make it even worse didn't you?! Shut. Up. What are you going to cry? You should you deserve it. Leave me alone! Be Quiet! Isn't this what caused Rainbows death? Your ignorance? Stop...Please! Of course it's true! If you hadn't been so ignorant and selfish, maybe you could've helped Rainbow! Maybe if you knew how to fly you could've prevented this! Shut up! Shut UP! But of course you just HAD to be so pitiful and useless! Maybe if you did know how to fly... Please... You can't fight the truth... Stop it! Rainbow would still be alive... I'm begging you! If it wasn't for your inability to do what you were made to do!

"SHUT UP!"

Scootaloo's scream echoed within the cave. Silence met her ears as her hollow echo faded moments later. Nobody was talking. Not anymore. She sighed and continued to walk. She was almost there. At least, she thought so as the blue light was now brighter than before.

Minutes passed by. Nothing but bright blue light, and dirt, and rocks.

Again nobody spoke, only her stumbling steps and her panting breaths of exhaustion and occasional moans and cry's of pain were what met her ears. No words of self-doubt or hatred in her head. At least not now. She continued even more exhausted than before. But she was so close. Almost there, and she couldn't bring herself to stop. Also, the ground beneath her was getting mushier and wetter. Softer.

She was closer, she could hear and now feel the sound of rushing water underneath her hooves. Just a few more steps.

She could see a wide hole before her, and beyond it was the bright blue light. Closer and closer she was, until finally...

She made it.

Her eyes widened in shock and awe as she came into a cave. A cave with a huge tree growing inside it, its roots spread throughout the clearing. Water surrounded the cave floor, pure and clear. Without another thought, she slid down her tunnel and she stumbled onto the soothingly cool water that waited before her. She leaned forward to gulp the water she craved only to cry out in pain and fall into the pool. Cool water surrounded her in a comforting embrace. She froze for a minute, in shock. But then she took gulp fulls of water, then she relaxed her muscles and embraced the soft enjoyable sensation. It wasn't deep she stood in the water, which kept her head high above the water.

Her red dried blood mixed with the crystal fluid, spreading and reaching for the sides of the cavern as if someone had dipped a paintbrush with red paint present on it. Her fur and wings became soaked.

She was in bliss, glad to have followed the mysterious light into this soothing sensation. She slowly opened her eyes as she was reminded about the thing that leads her there. There in the tree covered in roots and the heart of the tree trunk what something that glowed blue. She painfully forced herself out of the comfort and climbed slowly, hesitantly to the object.

Orange hooves reached out for the roots and pushed and moved them out of the way. It was deep, and it almost swallowed her, causing more pain to her wing. She grasped something, something round, and smooth, and cold. She jerked it, but it was latched tightly and something almost seemed to gently pull it away. Scootaloo felt a jolt of stubbornness and not long after; desperateness. She thought that if this thing had led her to this peaceful alcove, maybe it could get her out. Stabilizing her hoves in the roots that seemed from the tree and were scattered all over the cavern, she pulled it with all her might. She didn't want to stay.

She had no food, and while the water was good, she didn't want to somehow drown or be swept away to a waterfall, like before. Trauma gripped her features, and tears filled her eyes as she pulled with all of her muscle and all of her body weight, and there was nothing but pain in the wing from stretching her forelegs and tensing her muscles, the tears fell down her cheeks. But then, something fell, making Scootaloo go off balance and making her, along with the item tumble down the base. It was that glowing light, now and item. It fell into the water with a tiny splash and illuminated the liquid, making it glow within the cave. She had no choice as her body moved down without her will and pulled her back into its seductive engulfment.

She opened her eyes and groaned, which was muffled by the water, bubbles came out instead. She opened her eyes and moved to stand, ignoring the searing pain it caused her. She then looked around, and quickly found the object. Trying not to make anymore suffering to herself, she carefully walked over to the object, attempting to not add pain to her wing.

Finally, she grasped it. And stared at it.

It was a beautifully decorated antique pocket watch. It had a tiny button in the middle of two notches. She turned it over. Both of its hands were on the number twelve, the number like the others being perfectly imprinted onto the face. A glass cover protected the delicate face of the dimming object. The pocket watch was snow-white, with black vines that had tiny roses growing off of them.

She admired the lovely artifact, before realizing its light was fading and the darkness was engulfing her. She didn't mind the dark, but she didn't like it when she couldn't see in a place she knew nothing about. In a panic she pressed one of the notches, thinking they would brighten the little night light. The pocket watch glowed brighter.

And brighter.

Her ears twitched as she heard what sounded like quick heavy footsteps make their way to her behind her.

The watch was becoming warm when she was quickly engulfed in the light before she could do anything.

Darkness surrounded the cave once more. No sane creature was there anymore, but a deep growl echoed in the cave. The growl of a beast...

She opened her eyes in shock. She was falling.

The sound of ticking met her ears as she continued to fall.

Deeper and deeper into a deep black pit. Her ears focused on the ticking. She looked around her.

There were clocks. Grandfather clocks, small clocks, alarm clocks, every single clock she could see and know of in the round, organized rows around her. There were even old ones she couldn't remember the names of, and some she had never seen before.

And they were all white, devoid of color, contrasting against the black emptiness that surrounded her.

Her tail swayed as she continued to fall farther and deeper. The space around her almost seemed to get smaller for a while, threatening to smother her with the clocks, their ticking being louder due to their now increased range. The surroundings seemed to go still before the "walls" began widening once more. Everything was so dull and so unsettling.

Wait, was...was she dead?

That thought was interrupted when she saw a bright white light waiting to swallow her small form.

Its light reflected off of the pegasuses terrified and confused purple eyes.

Then everything was white as the light consumed the filly whole.

The Timeline has been reset...

Timeline II: The Chicken's Reoccurring Wish

Tick. Tock.

The sound of ticking clocks was what met Scootaloo's ears over the sound of peaceful silence. Fragile, delicate silence. She didn't want to move. To open her eyes. She was too relaxed, she didn't want to break this moment. So she didn't. She stayed there and waited for something to happen.

She waited in the peaceful bliss of the unknown world she didn't see. She was somewhere cool, yet warm, and was sitting on something soft. The sound of ticking clocks began to fade, seeming to sound from far away, before disappearing altogether.

Silence. But she could still feel her soft seat beneath her flank and the right temperature of the air.

Her ears perked as she heard a noise coming from in front of her.

Sobs.

She heard sobbing. They were her sobs, and yet she wasn't the one crying. She opened her eyes. There she was, right in front of herself. She was crying quietly. They were somewhere in the woods. She could now hear the water from the river rushing from behind her. But she heard something else.

Clip. Clop.

The sound of echoing hoof steps met her ears. But she couldn't move. She couldn't turn around. Confusion turned into fear as the steps became closer and closer until they were right behind her. The hoof steps seemed to walk right through her but stopped in front of her, coming into clear view. Her eyes widened as she stared at the mare now in front of her.

She knew that rainbow mane. She knew those amazing cyan wings.

Rainbow Dash.

Was all she could think in shock and disbelief. She wanted to run up and hug the mare. To call out her name. But she still couldn't move, nor speak. She could only watch the display in front of her.

She watched as Dash sat in front of her younger weeping self. A soft smile on the pegasus's face. She opened her mouth, and using her raspy voice she began to speak. Her voice was muffled to Scootaloo, who was watching this with recognition present in her facial features.

She knew this moment. It was the moment when Rainbow took her under her wing and made herself a big sister to Scootaloo. Tears streamed down her face as she watched Rainbow wrap a wing around her younger self as she pulled her close. Her mouth opened and spoke, but Scootaloo didn't need to hear to know what was happening. She knew what the pegasus said and remembered it from heart and soul.

"So...you're looking for somepony to take you under their wing? Yeah... I might be up for something like that."

"Really?"

"As long as you don't go jumping into any more rivers in the middle of the night."

"Hehe! It's a deal!"

Scootaloo stayed quiet, tears the color of regret and shame streamed down and stuck to her cheeks.

...

That's right.

That's what I said

...

Ugly liquid the color of black continued to fall and make small drips on the naturally covered floor. When it landed in the grassy ground, blue flowers began to bloom, ripping through the ground, and eventually extending its glorious petals for all to see.

Drip...
Drip...
Drip...

Sadness overwhelmed her as she watched herself and her idol embrace each other, seemingly oblivious to her presence.

If only I could keep the promise you made me.

Suddenly, Rainbow stopped hugging and smiling, but Scootaloo's younger counterpart continued to hug as if nothing happened. As if nothing had changed. A small trickle of blood dripped down Rainbow's face, dripping onto the grassy floor below, making a tiny red puddle. Scootaloo watched as her idol slowly moved her gaze towards her. The fillies eyes widened in concern and uneasiness as she stared at the mare. Her expression was blank, devoid of any emotion, and her eyes seemed to lack any life in them at all. The small but damageable scratch on Rainbow's left cheek continued to bleed as she continued to stare at the guest of reality.

Rainbow's eyes suddenly sparkled with life in less than a second, as she made an expression of concern and confusion.

Then, she slowly smiled softly, and somewhat tenderly at Scootaloo as she spoke towards her. Her lips moved as she said something. Her smile became bigger and more unnerving as her eyes curled down in mischief. Tiny trails of blood emerged from the mare's eyes and trickled down Dash's face as the filly only stared in worry and terror. Trails from her left eye increased the blood from her already damaged cheek, making the bleeding more intense. More blood dripped from her chest, and as she shifted, it didn't rise, the young mare could see a number emprinted on Dash's chest; the number 2.

"What's wrong, Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo's eyes widened in shock as more tears brimmed at her eyes. The mare's sudden voice was at her normal pitch and had the same rasp, but it was slightly off-putting. It sounded hypnotic, almost inviting, and it echoed in the filly's head like the echo in a cave, but slightly more intense, the way the mare said it was slow, seeming to taunt her. It repeated in her senses, almost causing a headache. She tightly closed her eyes and covered her ears when she felt an odd sensation of something pulling around her. Her eyes opened once more to see what was happening and only widened in shock. Rainbow, the blue flowers, and her past self faded along with her surroundings, and soon her only surroundings were darkness all around her.

Scootaloo didn't even realize she could move again as she ran after the illusion, reaching a hoof out in front of her to grasp the figure of Dash. But it was as if the ground was beginning to warp and become unstable. It crumbled and shattered behind and beneath her, she didn't need to look, she felt and heard it. It only made her run faster, trying to reach for the embrace that was once bloodied up in front of her. Her thoughts whirled as the mare disappeared and was sucked out of her sight.

"N-no! Wait! Don't leave me alone again! Rainbow Dash, please...wait for me. Come back!"

It happened before she knew it. She continued to call out, the mare didn't respond. But the darkness was cold and empty did was it crumbled beneath her as it swallowed her whole in response.

"Rainbow!"

Scootaloo shot up in her bed gasping sharply. Cold sweat stuck to the orange fur of her shaking form. Moonlight shined through the narrow space that remained uncovered by the limp curtains of the window. The air in the room was still and quiet and tense. The only noise was the startled filly's quick breathing and the occasional hooting of owls outside. She swallowed dryly as she began to notice she was awake. After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she began to realize that it was just a dream.

A strange one.

She looked around in her room for something to distract her from the chilling illusion she just experienced, but found only dark shapes and shadowed objects covered by the darkness of the night. She sighed and shifted around to be comfortable in her soft bed. She paused.

There was something small and round on her lap. Moving her gaze she found a sleek object on top of her bedsheets. The pony reached out and recoiled to the touch. It felt extremely cold as if it were a big block of pure ice. She picked it up again and examined it carefully. However, it was too dark to make anything out of the object other than it is round, small, and extremely uncomfortable to the touch. She moved out of her bed and moved towards her window, where the moonlight peaked through. Her hooves clopped against the wooden floors as she did.

She moved the curtains aside and held up the object. Her eyes widened as she did. It was an antique black pocket watch decorated with white stems and roses on the back. She turned it over, the hands were moving in a ticking motion, the numbers printed on the watch, and the notches present on the top of the watch. She noticed the time and it showed, the small and big hand present on the printed number; it was two in the morning.

She then remembered the dark tunnel and the wide cavern she received the watch from. Realization turned to confusion as she realized she didn't wake up in the cavern, but in her bed and room. But then she also remembered falling down a long unusual tunnel with pure white clocks floating in rows around her.

"This doesn't make sense...how did I...", She trailed off as she lost words to say. Silence met her answer nonetheless. The hooting of the owls outside continued to call. Scootaloo yawned. She was tired.

Tired of her constant misunderstanding of previous events and nobody explaining to her what had happened. She was also exhausted at waking up in fear and uncertainty, only for those feelings to be overwhelmed by grief and nostalgia. She sighed and climbed back into her bed. She knew she was going to get nothing out of her complaints, but she couldn't help but feel greedy about the person she wanted back. Sure she had her friends, but she always felt Rainbow was a bit more to her.

The mare encouraged her, she comforted her when she was scared, she took her under her wing and stuck by her side. She sighed and choked back a sob. She didn't want to think about that. But she didn't want to think about the watch. It was just too...weird to think that her surroundings somehow changed after she found the odd object. So she didn't think about that either.

Instead, she thought about the night she was in. She thought about the shining of the pale moon watching her. She thought about the stillness of the forest. And as she heard them, she thought about the owls of the night, their egg yolk-colored eyes glowing as they watched everything that went on during the still early hours.

The orange filly snuggled even more in her bed as she began to drift off into a dreamless unconsciousness.

Scootaloo rode her scooter to the schoolhouse, being too tired and avoiding her friends to move any faster. She wasn't going fast but going at a steady pace. She had been avoiding Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle since Dash's death. She had gone out with them from time to time, and they tried to cheer her up. It had worked a little, and on some occasions, Scootaloo had smiled softly at their antics and would chuckle a bit at their jokes or fun. But no matter how many times they told her they were there for her and that Rainbow was right there by her side, the filly felt more alone than ever, even when they were right next to her in concern.

Scootaloo didn't want them to feel or know that their efforts are in vain, so, with enough practice in a mirror, she faked her smiles, making them bright and cheery as they normally were. She perfected her laugh during hours of the night when all the other daytime creatures were asleep. She lied and told them, told everyone who had tried to cheer her up, that she felt better, that she was alright now.

The only thing that wasn't a lie was when she thanked them for their efforts when she missed the older pegasus pony. Those were true.

Her ears twitched as they picked up on sound. The sound of colts and fillies chattering away without a care in the world. She was almost to the schoolhouse. She sighed softly picked up her head, smiled, got off her scooter, removed her helmet, and trotted over, too fast against her preference. Her purple eyes scanned the scenery until they landed on a purple and pink mane with a snow-white horn sticking out on its forehead and a red mane with a big pink bow. The two ponies were talking about topics Scootaloo couldn't hear, but she would soon, as they noticed and happily trotted over in her direction.

She forced back a sigh and tried to not strain her smile. To make it a relaxed and natural as possible. Her heartbeat quickened out of anxiety, but she forced her shaky breaths to be silent. Sweetie Belle was the first to speak.

"Hey Scootaloo, you're finally here. We were getting worried you weren't going to make it.", the unicorn filly smiled a small, relieved smile. Scootaloo forced out a small chuckle.

"Hehe, yeah, I just woke up a little later than usual that's all.", Scootaloo smiled, "So, what's up?"

"Nothin' much, me an' Sweetie Belle were just talkin' about how we helped Thorny Glow get her Cutie Mark."

The three fillies glanced over, a pale green unicorn stood in the middle of a crowd flashing her Cutie Mark to all who wished to see it. The crowd of foals stared in awe as they admired the tattoo on her flank. Two of the Crusaders watched with a smile, but the third one watched first with a dry smile, then confusion. A sense of deja vu overwhelmed the pony as she continued to watch. She felt this had already happened before.

No...Of course, I feel this way, we've helped ponies before to get their Cutie Mark., Scootaloo tried to reason with herself. But as she continued to stare at the stitch-themed rose-bulb mark she began to realize that it had indeed happened before. She remembered the pony bursting in their clubhouse saying that she needed their help getting her mark, as "she had tried everything". She recalled all the various activities they had tried, from scuba diving to magic usage. But eventually, they had found her talent when she showed her talent for sewing designs, specifically flowers.

But that was months ago...they can't be fawning over that cutie mark because...,Scootaloo paused in her thoughts as she continued to watch the supposed event that already happened in her memory,

because we already helped another one...

She remembered there had been another foal, a coat the color of purple and a mane the color of violet. Then another one, and another, and a bunch of others as well. Foal after foal. Colt after filly. Scootaloo realized she had indeed helped many more horses earn a sign of their destiny. This was weird, to say the least for the filly, as the world around her seemed to become muffled by her corresponding thoughts until they all mushed and squashed together into one question.

How is this happening, why is all of this repeating, or seeming to at least?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a yellow hoof waving in front of her face, and the voice of Apple Bloom getting her attention.

"Hello? Scootaloo? You in there?", the filly's western accent was present in her concerned voice. The distracted filly shot her head up from her unconscious gaze on the ground. She glanced around, the rest of her peers were entering the bright red schoolhouse.

"Huh? What?" Scootaloo inquired the earth pony, both gave a worried glance before one of them began speaking once more.

"You didn't hear want we said?", the unicorn questioned, "That we're going to"

"Alright my little ponies! Now that you all are mostly awake, it's time for your lessons!", Cheerilee's voice called from in the doorway of the small schoolhouse, causing a wave of groans and murmurs of disagreement from many foals as they begrudgingly trotted inside for their learning. The purple earth pony quietly rolled her eyes in amused annoyance and smiled and greeted the foals that came in.

"We're goin' inside now.", Apple Bloom sighed, then she turned back to the pegasus, "Ya seem off, you okay?" The speaker's eyes furrowed in concern, Sweetie Belle following, wonder evident in their eyes. Scootaloo nodded and made an empty smile once more.

"Yeah, I'm just...I'm just tired. That's all." She made her smile a bit bigger to go with her assuring. The fillies looked at each other in disbelief, then turned to the odd acting filly and gave a skeptical look, but relented to Scootaloo's silent pleas to believe her and made their way to the schoolhouse. Scootaloo sighed quietly in relief, and trotted after her friends, staring at the ground.

They took their seats, and Cheerilee began the lesson. But Scootaloo trailed off in her thoughts rather than listen to the mare. Not that she did anyway. She felt conflicted, believing this to just be deja vu, and not be the past. She thought back to the watch, which she left at home on her nightstand. It was still cold as ice when she left it, but she remembered that it was hot as a lump of coal when she had pressed a simple button on it. She recalled it glowing a bright blue.

Then the long wide hole she fell that clocks of all kind surrounded.

It also felt odd how her friends took to seeing her, considering she had become a sort of a recluse since her sister's passing. They had tried to get her to go out again, a task they often succeeded in, but she had stayed in her room, or somewhere away from others. Now she had finally walked out into the open of the outside, and they're acting as if she never did. Even the air around her seemed wrongfully cheery and naive.

Somepony had died, and everyone was acting as if it never happened. She was a recluse when Rainbow died, and everyone now was making it seem as if she was still outgoing and carefree. She wasn't, she was some time ago, but in the present she was depressed. Not to mention, a cutie mark can't just disappear or wash off, right? It was imprinted on the chosen pony's flank until it was hidden along with their body six feet below when their body just stopped functioning.

Scootaloo grasped the side of her head and leaned a bit forward, but slacked and moved back in her seat in exasperation.

This isn't right...what's going on?

"Scootaloo?"

The said filly's head shot up as her realization had become clear. She looked around her surroundings and found her other classmates walking away from the schoolhouse through the doorway.

Well, except for her two friends looking at her in worry in the doorway. They lingered until a voice ushered them outside.

"It's okay, I just want to talk to her about something. You two can wait by the door if that will make you feel more comfortable."

Her friends hesitated, they looked at each other, then back at the subject of their worry, then, after a few seconds of unsure air, they made their way outside. But not so far, so when she looked outside, she saw them just at the bottom of the steps.

It didn't take long before Scootaloo concluded what just happened. School had ended and she was still at her seat. She turned her head towards the speaker. The purple school pony stared back at the younger pony with concern. The pegasus now was shocked at how fast school was, normally it took forever for a few mediocre hours sitting in her wooden seat. They both stared in silence, Cheerilee's stare being one of worry, while Scootaloo's was one of confusion and surprise. Silence for a minute, until the filly finally found her voice and finally spoke.

"What? Is school over already?"

The mare nodded concern never leaving her gaze and voice.

"Yes, Scootaloo are you alright? You were more zoned out than usual today, and you look a bit tired."

Scootaloo understood why she asked the question, normally she would run out of the class as soon as it ended, but she wished she didn't have to answer. She always hated getting asked that question, mainly because she had to make up her answer. To make it happy and believable to her happy, feel-better guise. They would nod and smile in relief, but their eyes showed doubt and disbelief. It took a while for them to believe her, and when they finally did she only felt worse for creating a believable lie.

"Scootaloo?"

The mare's voice interrupted her mind once again. Purple eyes met green, and Scootaloo made a smile and a small nod. She made exaggerated body movements she normally would, like flapping her wings as she would sometimes in her past euphoric states she would have. She made the very things that showed her happiness in the past, only making her feel more empty.

"Yeah, I'm just really excited school is over, I mean not that school is bad it can just be boring sometimes. Not that you're a bad teacher it's just the subjects are...", she trailed off and made a gesture towards the pony in front of her. The confusion that was present on the mare's face slowly turned into one of understanding yet still had traces of concern present on its features. Scootaloo sighed and quickly but diligently trotted over to the door. She was in the doorway when Cheerilee called out to her again.

"Scootaloo", The called out filly turned towards the pony summoning her attention, "Don't forget to sleep tonight, okay? I wouldn't want it to be a problem in class." Scootaloo nodded, keeping up her happy façade. Ignoring Cheerilee's uneasy smile, Scootaloo made her tired body trot out the door in an energized fashion, her hooves clopping on the wooden steps until becoming more silent on the dirt ground that spread out from the stair into a wide path.

She let out a sigh of relief. But the feeling was quickly shattered when her friends called her name and trotted over to her. She internally groaned and made a grin once more. She mentally prepared herself to deceive her best friends of her well-being. The white unicorn spoke.

"Hey, Scootaloo. What did Cheerilee talk to you about?"

"Oh", the orange filly relaxed a tiny bit, "She just told me to pay attention is all."

They both looked at each other then back at the filly in question. Scootaloo grabbed her scooter and her helmet and turned to leave, but they called out for her once again.

"Scootaloo, where ya goin'?"

Apple Bloom.

"Home. We don't have anything planned today, right?"

"Oh right! We were going to tell you, except you were zoned out and then school started, but this morning, while you weren't here yet, we promised to help Lotus Diamond get her cutie mark.", the white unicorn stated. Scootaloo let out a silent sigh in her head. She then slowly trotted over to her friends and made a hollow chuckle.

"I guess I forgot we had plans. I was planning on heading home early to catch up with some things."

"What kind of things?", the earth pony's voice drawled out. Scootaloo didn't want to tell them something that will sound odd or even suspicious. Her mind fumbled around finding a convincing lie. Finding none, she answered with the only one that would stop this conversation.

"You know...stuff. But let's help her first." She smiled a determined grin, meaningless as it was.

"You sure you're okay?", Sweetie Belle asked this time. The pegasus once again nodded and brushed the question off.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now let's help a filly in need, we aren't the Cutie Mark Crusaders for nothing after all.", she spoke enthusiastically.

The other two fillies looked at each other than, hesitantly, smiled and nodded, and gained genuine enthusiasm from Scootaloo's fake one. She wished she could just tell them the truth, that she was still in grief from Rainbow's death. That she could never really sleep just right, either being nightmares or insomnia. That her body was heavy all the time, and she found all of their crusading, and all of their activities not enjoyable as they used to be. She felt it was a chore, running around and helping others find their destiny when sometimes she wished she could end hers.

But her friends had given her so much, and they showed relief and joy when she feigned happiness herself. Watching them in front chattering about helping another, and speaking in the hopeful emotion, Scootaloo only felt more pathetic in her guilt in deceiving them.

The filly realized soon that she should have hidden, or run as soon as she left the schoolhouse because they wanted to hang out at sugar cube corner after their task. She was backed up in a corner, and now she was being dragged to a place she didn't even want to go to. Her friends chatted and laughed in pure joy, but Scootaloo's wasn't genuine. She wanted to leave, wanted to figure out why all of this was so familiar.

She looked at her friends, who were happily talking to each other about their recent achievement in helping out another pony. Her thoughts mixed and smashed into each other, thoughts of curiosity, and thoughts of wonder. She was curious and wondered if her friends realized this as well. They seemed to act normally, jolly and carefree, but Scootaloo wondered and hoped this was just a façade to keep things happy.

I haven't seen Rainbow Dash, so it couldn't have happened. But I need to make sure. If it did...that would be weird. But if I didn't, why did I have to help Lotus Diamond, and she had no Cutie Mark either. Her flank was blank...

"Hey...Scootalooo...", a voice drawled out her name more than necessary to get her attention. She looked back at her friends.

Her friends must've eventually noticed she was silent because now they were looking at her with worry. Lost pink eyes met two pairs of concerned reddish-orange and green ones. It wasn't long after a second of silence before the unicorn spoke once more.

"You know Cheerilee's right, you have been zoned out more lately, what's going on with you?"

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just...I was just wondering...", she hesitated before clearing her throat and speaking once more, "Didn't we already help Lotus get her mark?" Her friends narrowed their eyes in confusion and worry.

"Yeah, we just did it a while ago.", The southern filly answered, only her response made the filly more confused than ever.

"No, I mean, like, a couple of months ago."

"Um...no." Was their answer. This was too weird.

"You sure you're okay?"

She chuckled forcefully and made a weak smile, nodding.

"Yep! I'm fine. Well, it's getting kinda late, I should head home, gotta finish that stuff I mentioned earlier.", She got out of her seat and made her way to the door to avoid the strange conversation she just had, "So, uh, see ya."

Before they could say anything back, Scootaloo was already out the door, on her scooter, and moving outside away from Sugar Cube Corner with a hurried pace. Apple Bloom ran to the door and called out for her friend.

"Don't forget about the show this afternoon!" Then, the two fillies who just got ditched looked at each other in confusion, then back to the fading silhouette of their departing friend. The Sun was still high up and wasn't going to start lowering for another few hours, leaving them more confused than ever.

The filly didn't look back as she speed off, not wanting to see the confusion, or even hurt, in their eyes. Her wings flapped rapidly as her scooter carried her like the wind. She rode past the calm crowds of walking ponies, and through the heavy, peaceful air around her. In her eyes all of this was wrong. They should be mourning and dragging their sad bodies around, the air should be tense and moist with sadness.

She lifted her head to look around her, she saw mares of the Elements of Harmony not mourning and having tears in their eyes. But instead looking to the right, she found Twilight and Fluttershy were happily conversing with each other about some unknown topic while purchasing some items, but to Scootaloo, the former should be sobbing onto the latter's shoulder. She moved her head to the right. It wasn't before long she found Rarity handing bits to a haughty-looking stallion who was selling some fabric, and soon found Pinkie Pie cheering people up, but with much more enthusiasm and joy.

All of this was wrong, so wrong in her mind. She kept riding, now looking forward, out of the little marketplace, out of the heart of the town, and onto the path that took her home, which was near the end of the little village. She began to be lost in her thoughts as reality around ceased to matter. She wanted to get home, to wake up, and for all of this to be a dream.

But at the same time, she didn't want it to be. Around her, everyone looked so happy, so carefree, as if death never occurred in the town. But she felt alone, and her selfishness was taking up more than her hopeful one. The pocket watch was on her shelf, where she left it. She needed to look closer to it.

She was halfway there when something caught her eye. It was something long and somewhat bushy dangling off of a cloud. It was a tail, but all Scootaloo could process was the tail. She skidded to a stop and looked back, again processing the wild tail's color.

A r-rainbow tail? No, It couldn't...It's just a trick of the light, right?

She closed and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. But it was still there, in plain view. She slowly trotted over to the cloud that held the supposed pony. Her eyes twinkled with light and hope, and her heart thudded quickly out of excitement and anticipation. As she came closer she realized, it indeed was a tail. She trotted slowly in disbelief until she was directly under the cloud. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out for a while. But she found her voice somehow.

"Rainbow Dash?", Her voice was clear, but questioning if this illusion was a part of this reality she found herself somehow transported in. A voice could faintly be heard, yawning. Then, the tail moved. It was now atop the cloud, not dangling on the side. The filly's heart threatened to break her ribs as it only beat faster in suspense.

A mare's face.

A cyan one peaked over the edge of the cloud.

Rose-colored eyes peered down at her in curiosity.

Tears built up in the lower pony's purple eyes, the pony above came down in front of her, her great blue wings extended for all those to see.

It's impossible...she's here.

"Hey, Scootaloo, what's up?"

Her crackly voice was all it took for Scootaloo to confirm. Without warning, the smaller pegasus embraced the bigger one, taking the mare in surprise and confusion. She let her tears fall as she began to whisper and speak. The mare's voice rang through her ears, but she didn't stop talking.

"Uh...Scootaloo?..."

"You're alive! You're okay! You're right here! Right here...with me...I missed you so much.", Scootaloo whispered, but just enough for the mare to hear. If the mare wasn't confused, she certainly was now. Scootaloo felt her tense even more, and soon she felt a hoof push her back. Her eyes that were now leaking tears stared back into the confused and now concerned ones of her idol.

"Scootaloo, what are you talking about? Of course, I'm alive, why wouldn't I be?"

The one questioned didn't answer, instead, she continued to stare into the eyes of the pony that once was buried 6 feet below her hooves. Her thoughts raced her head, but this time in confusion that mashed and mixed together with pure joy, creating an odd mess in her mind. Her idol waited for an answer, but Scootaloo didn't know how to answer, nor did she want to. All she wanted was to feel the embrace once more, to confirm again that she was here. To confirm that it wasn't a cruel trick of her mind, waiting to disappear when she believed in it.

"Hello?", a cyan hoof waved in front of her face as she found herself staring back into her supposed illusion, who now had a look of genuine concern on her face, "Scootaloo you in there?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah! I was just, I'm so happy to see you, that's all."

The mare's face then turned to one of many mixed emotions, mainly laced with large bits of confusion. Her raspy voice was navigated by her mouth as she spoke once more.

"We saw each other yesterday.", She paused, and Scootaloo saw pride overwhelming her once complicated emotions, "Though, you know, why wouldn't my number one fan be excited to see the most awesome flier in all of Equestria?"

Scootaloo beamed and said nothing.

"But seriously, what was that about?", concern once more.

Scootaloo looked back in confusion.

"About the whole 'your alive' stuff.", the mare clarified, unfortunately.

The filly's smile turns into a frown she opened her mouth to speak, but the words died in her throat. So in this dream, she wasn't dead. Even if it was only a dream, Scootaloo didn't want to tell the mare she had perished. It just didn't feel right. It felt cruel, to tell somepony who loved life, who loved to fly that she had seen them die, had been in a situation where they had been forced to stop flying. Permanently.

"Oh...uh nothing. It was just a bad dream.", She quickly added, "But I faced it head-on! Because what's one silly nightmare? It wasn't even that scary anyway."

"You sure? You sounded pretty shaken up?...and, you look like you're crying.", She furrowed her eyebrows as she leaned in to get a better view. Scootaloo quickly wiped her fading tears and smiled genuine happiness at the pony in front of her. Her tears of joy were held back.

"Nope, I'm fine! Just a little shaken up, but I'm fine!"

The mare looked concerned, and after staring at the once crying filly, she slowly smiled unsurely in relief, but with a hint of disbelief. For Scootaloo, a simple smile from the pegasus was a sight she had wanted to see for a couple of months. The smile faded slightly. The mare began to talk once more. Slowly and unsurely.

"Okay, but you know if you want to talk about it-"

"No! I mean no, thank you, but I'm all good now...It wasn't even that scary anyway. So, uh, what's up?", The mare looked skeptical and concerned. But Scootaloo kept her smile up, it was real, so it wouldn't falter. Rainbow then looked relieved, believing the filly this time. She began to talk about mostly herself, talking about something she and the Wonderbolts were going to do in their latest show.

But the filly trailed off in her thoughts once more, forgetting where she was once more. She was elated to see her idol, flesh and all, but she was confused about why everything seemed to repeat, perfectly. She had seen all of this before. Maybe, it wasn't a dream, maybe something allowed her a new chance.

But that was impossible. It wasn't a natural occurrence, even in this world of magic. Time travel was considered impossible, at least, in all universes it was made to be nothing more than science fiction.

She thought back to the pocket watch currently resting on her bookshelf. She, like most ponies, would in her situation, found the situation odd and unusual. How could a simple innocent pocket watch do the impossible, it just wasn't right in the filly's noggin. Nothing was so far.

She emerged once more in the present, where the mare was still rambling on about something she was excited about.

"...about it, you, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle still excited to watch the best fliers in all Equestria do the most awesomest tricks ever later?", the mare's tone was just as joyful and cheeky as her grin as she leaned into Scootaloo's face.

"Uh..yeah, absolutely!", was the orange pegasus's automatic response to her blue-coated hero. She realized she was zoned out and forced herself out of her spinning psyche.

"Awesome, I knew you would!", was the mare's response as she picked the filly up and ruffled Scootaloo's mane. Suddenly a voice broke through the air of joy.

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Huh?"

They both turned towards the voice to find Applejack, who had an annoyed and angered expression on her face. Scootaloo was placed on the ground as the once inexistent pony began to talk to the living pony.

"Hey Applejack."

"Don't you 'hey' me, you were supposed to be makin' rain over at Sweet Apple Acers a while ago!", Scootaloo quietly watched her idol make a guilty smile on her face.

"Oh, heh heh, I knew I forgot something...", Applejack glared daggers at the pegasus, "What? I was busy with something else."

"Ya forgot when you were busy havin' a nice nap huh? No surprise every time Ah find ya yer slackin' off and napin' or whatnot when ya could be given rain over at the farm!"

"Hey, those naps are reasons why I do my work quickly and efficiently." She retorted to the blondie, making exaggerated movements with her hooves. The farm pony merely stamped her hoof and continued to glare at the airborne mare.

"Well, why don't ya do your job quickly and efficiently over to trees and crops who need water!"

Dash rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance, "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." She turned to Scootaloo.

"See ya at the show Scootaloo.", she then blasted off in the direction of the farm, leaving nothing but a rainbow trail, an annoyed mare, and a baffled filly. A grumpy Applejack sighed, shaking her head, before trotting away towards the marketplace, mumbling under her breath, not even taking notice of the filly.

"I swear that mare sometimes..."

Scootaloo was left standing in a literal puddle of confusion, wonder, and euphoria. She was beyond being just happy at seeing and hearing her idol in her presence. She was in a trance made purely out of joy, and she felt she could travel to the moon and back. But she wondered how all of this was possible, how a pony can be dead months ago and suddenly appear the next day. It was most likely a dream. But what if it wasn't? Lastly, she was confused on how everything was repeating itself, or how her memories could be shaken and sloppily mixed into a messy slop. Maybe she was taunting herself, making her remember all the things and fun times she had with the rainbow speedball.

She slowly her gaze from the bright blue sky, and back to the way to her small two-storied house. Eventually making it, she was greeted by Aunt Holiday, a short and orange-coated earth pony, who was sitting at a table talking to Aunt Lofty. The skinny, pale-yellow pegasus was knitting a quilt of many patterns Scootaloo could not see.

"Don't worry, I'll behave.", Scootaloo's voice was heard faintly throughout the small two-storied house where she lived. Aunt Lofty and Aunt Holiday were going to meet up with some ponies who were interested in buying the pegasus's variety of quilts. They would be gone for the rest of the day and would be back very late in the night, and they had just revealed who the foal sitter was. It must've been a difficult task, Rainbow whizzes here and there, and if chased, the pursuer would never reach her.

But these two had once more. This wasn't the first time anyway, as before they fully bought the property, they lived in a different house one or two towns away, and they would often get many caretakers for her. But that had been almost a year ago, when her parents had finally come and seen her, but only to reveal that they're taking her away from Ponyville to live with them.

Everyone, the Crusaders, herself, the other fillies they had helped, and of course, Rainbow Dash had given a reason or more why she should stay. Her parents of course were sad she didn't want to live with them, but they respected her wishes. After that, the aunt couple revealed they had bought the house and were living there full time.

Now it was about two weeks after Scootaloo's 'expedition'. She was deeply confused still and often had to remember certain things to go to them. Like when Rainbow invited her to a Wonder Bolt concert a week before her odd journey, she forgot until she remembered the ticket on a little table in her room, right next to a flowerpot thirty minutes since she and Dash had their conversation. She had to rush the other two to Twilight to get a cloud walking spell. Then they had to use a slingshot for all three of them like they do when they have to hurry anywhere in Cloudsdale, as she saw that as the quickest way to get there before the show started in five minutes. Even though her friends suggested a better, less painful way, even telling them they should've taken a less painful way, like taking the hot air balloon or asking Twilight to teleport them to their intended destination, which Twilight offered both but Scootaloo was too panicked about being tardy that she didn't even notice the gesture.

She brought herself back in the present once more, as her two leaving caretakers began to leave, two sets of different colored suitcases were in the two mares' possession. A two being lifted by a folded wing, and the other one, a wood red, riding on the pegasus's back. They were full of differently decorated quilts of many colors and stitches.

She followed them outside, right as a rainbow streak contrasted against the deepening blue sky, and Scootaloo found herself watching it carefully. This had indeed happened before, and it had been one of the best times of the young pony's life, aside from all the other times she had hung out with her brash mentor. But this had now felt strange to the now annoyed foal. She wasn't annoyed about spending time with her idol. She craved it before.

But she was annoyed by repeating and being confused about things that have happened, but not yet. Whenever she spoke up about it, nopony knew what she was talking about, and it seemed like everyone thought she was insane.

But...she's here as if she has been alive this whole time and not...that yet

She continued to stare at her rainbow-maned caretaker for the rest of the afternoon. She was conversing and bragging about how good she was going to take care of the younger mare behind her, at least Scootaloo assumed she was. She flew above the ground with great blue wings in pride and a sort of excitement, her hooves moving exaggeratedly. Scootaloo wondered if she was just imagining it, yet it was impossible to explain how she knew what was going to happen.

"So Scootaloo, you ready for an awesome night?", a raspy voice in front of her and two hoofs on her shoulder brought out of her thoughts. She looked forward and saw Rainbows face close to hers, her eyes glistening with excitement.

"Huh? Oh, um of course!"

The mare in front of her grinned and made her way inside the house leaving Scootaloo to stare back at the lowering Sun alone.

Luna...Celestia...how is all of this possible?, she wondered quietly, staring back at the Princess of the Night's creation, Is my wish granted?

"Uh...Scoot? You coming in or...?", the impatient pony from inside called. Scootaloo whirled her head around, meeting the confused pony's gaze.

"Oh...Oh, right! Yeah, just wondering something..", The older pegasus made her way out of the house, her wings making quiet thumping noises she did.

"Wondering what?"

"Um...haven't you been noticing that everything in the past is happening again?... Er, I mean, that the past is repeating itself or something? Like everything that's already happened is repeating itself?"

She moved her head to look at RD's face and got only met with confusion. Scootaloo sighed. She wasn't making sense and being confused herself, she knew she wasn't going to anytime soon. Before the mare could share her thoughts, Scootaloo turned and trotted quickly to the house.

"Never mind...Now come on, wouldn't wanna waste time I could be spending with the coolest pony in Equestria!", she grinned as she made her way outside, not glancing back for the mare's reaction. Instead, she wanted to spend time with the pony she idolized, now that she had another chance. She wished and prayed this time wasn't like last time, where she wouldn't have to look at the sight of pure heartbreak. Where the mare following her wouldn't be bloody and beaten and broken. And dead.

Scootaloo sat on the many log seats that surrounded the lit campfire. She sat lost in her thoughts, ignoring the chattering around her from the other ponies. Rarity was telling a story, she knew that much, but she didn't feel like listening. This has happened before, and Scootaloo enjoyed every moment of it. She still was, but now there was an odd feeling that accompanied it. She looked to her right.

At the mare who shouldn't be there, but the mare Scootaloo had once wished she could be in the presence of once again. The filly reached out a hoof towards the pegasus, wanting to see if she was an illusion, despite the obvious facts that she wasn't. She was cautious even if she had been there for a while.

A hoof lightly poked Rainbow's foreleg, moving her attention to the owner of the hoof. The orange pony jumped a bit and moved back just an inch in surprise. She stared at her older sister relieved she didn't fade away. It was a silly thought, considering she had enough proof this wasn't a dream and that Rainbow wasn't an illusion. But Scootaloo was still scared it might be, this wasn't the first she had of the bearer of loyalty being alive when she wasn't in reality. She was skeptical.

"What is it Scootaloo?"

Dash's crackly voice met her ears as all eyes fell on her. She sighed in relief and joy. Rainbow was real, this Rainbow wasn't dead. But now she was even more confused than ever. Curious eyes were still on her, and she realized she needed to speak.

"Oh...um, nothing, just bumped into you.", she turned to Rarity, "That was a really good story, Rarity." She couldn't tell if it was good or not, she was ignoring the unicorn. Rarity smiled and nodded, glad that the others had enjoyed her tale. The others began to compliment Rarity as well. It was Rainbow's turn, and the blue pony floated off the ground as her wings lifted her in excitement. Scootaloo listened intently to her idol's favorite tale, the one about another pony who had the same loyalty as she did.

The woods surrounded them as the story was spoken. And as she listened Scootaloo only thought one thing.

This is a new chance! A new opportunity, it won't be like next time. Celestia must be giving me another chance by giving me the pocket watch...somehow

She had always felt elated and brimming with excitement when she was blessed with the presence of her idol. It was truly wonderful and inspiring every time the mare talked to her. She encouraged her, she cared for her, and she truly looked out for Scootaloo. She had always been in every big part of Scootaloo's life, all beginning from that camping trip, to a talent show, to a competition to celebrate Ponyville and many more cherishable events and moments.

The pocket watch she had found let her feel those things once more. Her hero was right beside her, happily telling all of them how her hero made a plan to distract the dragons that had kidnapped the other soldiers. Scootaloo could see how the two related, they both had an undying loyalty for those they cared for. It reflected Rainbow's loyalty to the other mane six, her family, the Wonderbolts, and Scootaloo. Sure there were times when her loyalty was tested by her pride or desires, but in the end, Dash always chose the right choice.

She always chose her loyalty for those she loved. Scootaloo loved that trait, it was one of the many reasons she admired the prismatic maned mare. Now as she sat near the radiating warmth of the campfire and sitting beside her idol, she felt an appreciation for the mare even more.

She smiled as Rainbow got to the ending. The ending where the hero survived, where he was rewarded for his bravery, for his loyalty for the now cheering soldiers he rescued. She still loved that ending, she still loved Rainbows story and deeply hoped that that would be the same with the storyteller. To be rewarded with many rewards. To survive from her acts of loyalty, and to smile and achieve her dreams and goals for the rest of her life.

She wished and prayed to the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of the Moon that this hope was true.

Scootaloo sat in grave silence in her room, atop her soft, comfy bed, dry tears stained her fur cheeks. She ran out of tears to shed. The hope was fake, and she only got met with more despair. She silently cursed the two Princesses. She sighed and laid back in her bed in utter depression and sadness. She couldn't blame them, she should blame herself for believing everything but that would repeat, she was very wrong. The day had come, and Rainbow Dash was dead once more.

This wasn't a different chance, it was the same one, and Scootaloo felt foolish for believing the opposite. The two months were repeating, and the events happened again. The finding of her, the funeral, the mourning. It had now only been a couple of hours since the funeral.

Her friends, like last time, had tried to cheer her up. But their efforts were futile, as she only got worse in her mentality. Not only was she more depressed than ever, but the only person she felt could cheer her up had now died twice in her eyes. The only thing she left behind was joyful, and savoring memories of happiness that only poisoned the filly's mind more. She wasted her time when she had a chance to stop it. She wished she had savored the second time she could experience genuine happiness once more.

The time at the concert, when Rainbow watched her that night, and when they went on their next annual sister camping trip once more. There were more times and more chances that she wasted being confused. She should've warned her, should have told her what was going to happen.

She now wished for her once more and craved another chance. If only the two princesses could give her another chance. If only she could somehow go back once more, and instead of wasting time, would warn Rainbow about the future. To prevent it.

Scootaloo's eyes widened.

"That's right, the pocket watch!"

She quickly sat up and walked over to the shelf where she left it. It was still there, and it seemed to beckon to her, promising another chance, another way. Her hooves grasped the mystic object, and she stared at it for some time.

It took me back once...can it take me back again...maybe, just maybe...

She fumbled with the watch, trying to figure out how to activate it again. Her hooves moved around, and she pushed the first button, which was one of two small notches on her left. A familiar feeling overwhelmed her once more, as the pocket watch seemed to grow lighter, as well as hotter. A purple glow this time, seeming to emulate the filly. She closed her eyes, as it consumed her once more.

She was falling again. She forgot about this.

And she was still scared.

She opened her eyes in a completely terrified expression as she stared at the wide white hole in front of her.

She realized she needed to warn Rainbow, to prevent this.

Somehow...

Because it would just happen again like it did last time.

Rainbow and other pegasi and weather ponies would try to stop it. And fail.

She and so many others will die to the cruelness of nature.

But she could only save one, but maybe she can at least try to save the others.

But that would take too long...

Was she even willing to have that patience?

After all, she has another chance now...many...

And now...this time...

She knows she can go back and try to change everything...

She can try to save the mare, she can attempt to free herself from the nightmares, and she can push effort into being able to spend the rest of her days in blissful happiness.

Happiness with her. To feel her happiness, to make her happy. To be able to cheer her on. No matter what, she silently made herself promise to protect the mare who truly looked out for her. The mare she idolized, not only for her ability but for who she was and was like.

She wanted to protect the joy the mare gave her.

She wanted to protect the loyalty the mare gave.

And she was going to protect her loyalty. For her friends, for the mare's friends, for herself, and for others who have yet to experience even more.

And happiness with her friends and family.

She truly wanted her to be okay.

But with this storm, this inconvenient event took someone special away from her.

It might never happen.

She can try to protect Rainbow, she can try to keep her friends safe, and maybe she will feel okay after she saves her.

She kept her uncertain gaze on the wide hole that soon engulfed her, ignoring the ticking of the watches, almost sounding as if they wanted her to look at them.

But she didn't and was too focused on her self-given quest, too lost in her thoughts to notice a small change.

Scootaloo was too focused on her thoughts to even notice anything else, like how the clocks looked a bit different, or maybe the chimes were a bit off.

She closed her eyes in a pained expression as the white light engulfed her whole, afraid it might hurt her upon an imaginary impact. She disappeared, dissolving into the magical space, leaving the now slightly dimmer white clocks alone once more in the odd portal.

The Timeline has been reset once more...

Timeline III: Bluebird's Disbelief

The fog was thick and grey, and Scootaloo couldn't see anything in front of her. She lifted her hoof in front of her face, she could only see a blurry shadow. It was cold like she was buried under a thick, large pile of snow. She looked around her odd surroundings, only finding fog and silence. She squinted, but that did not help her problem, she still couldn't see through the smoke. She opened her mouth, but no voice came out.

She couldn't speak.

She couldn't hear anything, not even her hoof steps as she moved forward. She quickly walked, hoping to soon be out of this uncomfortable environment. But as she continued to move forward, she found that her surroundings were now growing and shaping into a new one, as threatening trees began to surround her, their branches seeming to reach for the foal. As she continued to walk, she saw other shapes beginning to form within the trees much quicker now.

Then, she heard a sound, a rhythmic one.

Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock

They were clocks. Grandfather clocks and they are as tall as buildings, looming over the only living creature. They made the pony feel helpless and threatened. It made her feel inferior. Their ticking and tocking seemed to mock her, to laugh and giggle at this helpless foal who had lost her way. She began to move in a quick trot, almost to the point of running. She again tried to use her voice to see if someone was there, but her voice was still gone.

Another sound met her ears, as other movements happened around her. It was a low croaking call of a bird.

She looked around her and saw that ravens were landing and perching on branches, their beady little eyes staring right at her. More and more birds of the same kind perched on the clocks and trees, making the trees appear to have black moving feathers all over them, and the clocks, they sat on the hands of it in such an angle that the mechanics looked as if they were frowning at the pony. Glaring at her through and through.

Craw!

She jumped as a yell of the many birds around her called from behind her. She spun around and found a depressing sight right behind her. It was perched on the seat of a rather large wooden chair, which wasn't there before. The bluebird stared directly at her, its body still from the loss of life, some unseen force was balancing the corpse. She stared back with wide, now tear-filled eyes, wondering what was happening. Nothing happened for a few moments, but then her eyes began to sting. Like some pony had poked them directly with their hooves.

She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and moved to look back at the bird. But to her surprise, the deceased bird and everything but the chair was gone, including the tall clocks and trees. She looked around her and found only a plain white space around her: no forest, building-sized clocks, and sky or fog. Looking back at the chair, she found the raven was no longer on the chair, but a big detailed mirror was in its place.

Her purple eyes went wide in horror and intrigue as she began to take in her reflection. Something was coming out of her eyes. It spread more and more, and Scootaloo saw, it was ribbons. As they exploded outwards there were streamers of different ribbons that formed the colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and lastly, purple ribbons. They streamed down her cheeks and spread as they unrealistically melted and dripped, making the sight somewhat of a waterfall, all the way down to the floor below her. It pooled into a colorful sticky looking mess. Yet they still felt silky, dry, and non-liquid, confusing the young filly. Her pupils were much bigger and were just a bit too big now. They were the color of red roses, looking like deep pools with tiny specs swimming in them, oddly.

But what unsettled Scootaloo was the shape, they weren't circles anymore, they were squiggly lines now. Lines that almost seemed to take the form of a number; 3

She stared at the image the glass object showed her in curiosity and fascination with the beauty of the ribbons and with the uncomfortable feelings of the expanded pupils. It reminded her of Rainbow's mane and tail. Her now expanded and colored eyes reminded her of Rainbow's own. She felt scared, in awe, and in deep nostalgia all at the same time. Tears continued to fall as the image of the decaying body flashed in her mind. The tears streamed down her face in grief.

But she soon found that was a big mistake, as the colors and ribbons began to turn a deep decaying black. Holes and rips were now occurring in the ribbons, and her eyes hurt more than ever. No ribbons were coming out of her eyes anymore, but rich black feathers. One by one, but at a speeding process, feathers somehow formed in her eyes and floated gently to the ground. So lightly and delicately, yet so painfully.

They were the same feathers as the birds she had seen.

They were raven's feathers. They were falling into piles in front of the filly's now shaking hooves.

Her eyes? They now had eyes the same color and as black as dark coal, just as lifeless. But the number was still there, like a permanent mark or wound she was bound to carry for the rest of her life. What fuel does to fire, how it makes the hungry fire grow, it did the exact thing to her starving fear. Making it overtake her body, and making her shake with terror.

Her mouth opened as she let out a scream.

A silent scream that had no voice at all.

Gasps rang within Scootaloo's room, as the occupant was startled awake from her dreams once again. Her hooves went underneath her eyes, making sure nothing was coming out of them. She only felt her skin. She sighed in relief and looked around. She was in her room once more, it had worked. She looked down to find the pocket watch on her lap. She picked it up and looked it over. It was cold as ice once more and was not glowing anymore.

Seeing no damage to it, she slid out of her bed and walked over to the shelf, where she placed it. She then proceeded to wander around the moonlit room. She knew she needed to warn her, to tell her about the future. She could prevent this.

That's what she now aimed to do. Now she knows this isn't a dream, nor is it a new universe. It was the same one, one that she just turned back the timeline to prevent an ill future. She didn't like it the first time, nor the second, and she went deeply against desiring another one. She hated the thought of the sight of someone she cared immensely for bleeding out in her very eyes. Not only that, but she hated the traveling bit, falling through an unknown portal created by an odd ornate pocket watch she knew nothing much about.

Falling through something similar to a rabbit hole, being long and blood rushing, and very confusing and complicated. Falling past all of those clocks with the now annoying ticking and tocking of the tellers of time. Whenever she would go through the wide abyss she would be met with the oddest, and most haunting nightmares she had ever experienced in her couple of pony years of life.

Dreams with memories that had a twist, dreams full of clocks, deep forests, and a forest full of crows and feathers. She hated them and wanted them gone.

But this wasn't about her. She was now just worried about her sister.

She climbed back into her bed, closed her eyes, and forced herself into a dark unconsciousness, this time ignoring the owls that asked the same question repeatedly throughout the night.

Scootaloo's eyes stared at the clock impatiently. It was only five minutes until school was over. She ignored Cherrilee's lesson. That wasn't important. She was going to go out of the schoolhouse as soon as it ended and would find Rainbow Dash. She knew what she was going to do, and it was far bigger than education. The clock ticked down.

5 more minutes...

She was going to warn her about the danger, to try and prevent it. She didn't focus on anything else, only her mission. Nothing else mattered until it was fully prevented.

Four...Three...

The fretful filly felt her eyes begin to strain from staring at something intensely for so long. Time was going by so slow.

Two...

The orange pegasus began to shake with impatience, as one minute was left. She positioned herself in a way where she would leave quickly. She had no time to converse with her friends. No time to answer questions.

Bing! Bong!

As soon as the bell rang, she jumped out of her seat and ran to the door. She almost tripped falling down the stairs, grabbed her scooter and helmet, and rode past the courtyard and away from the school, not focusing on anything that was in front of her. Her head shot up as she scanned the skies and searched for the undead pony. There was nothing but blue sky and puffy white clouds. No rainbows yet.

"Where are you Rainbow?", Scootaloo wondered aloud, and she didn't know whether her heart was beating out of anxiety or whether it was from running. Maybe both. Her neglection to look ahead and not up caused her scooter to trip on a rock in the path. She shouted out in surprise as she was launched forward abruptly, landing with her left cheek sliding against the harsh pathway.

"Ugh...Ow...", Scootaloo groaned as she picked herself up from the ground. She rubbed her cheek and winced. It wasn't bleeding, but it still stung. She looked up.

She wasn't there.

She continued to have her eyes on the blue space above her, looking for Rainbow. She wasn't anywhere in the sky, not in this area. She continued to ride, ignoring her surroundings around her. The sky was her vision, and finding the mare was her mission, she couldn't waste any more time. Voices and conversations filled her ears, but she ignored them all. All that met her eyes though, were clouds and other pegasi.

No Rainbow Dash yet. She wasn't anywhere in the marketplace. A thought suddenly came to her head, maybe she isn't there during this time. Maybe Rainbow would still be asleep on a cloud near her home. She quickly exited the marketplace and headed in the direction of her house.

Her heart raced as she remembered what she was about to do. She was about to tell the older pegasus about her fate. To tell her she was bout to die. It was unbelievable, but Scootaloo shrugged this off. The mare had to believe her, she just had to. Scootaloo didn't look further in her future actions, wasn't done yet. She skidded to a stop and looked above her to a cloud, where she thought Dash would be. Scootaloo swallowed dryly, and she called out to the pegasus on the cloud.

"Rainbow Dash!" She kept her gaze on the mass of water drops and ice crystals. No response. There was no tail hanging over the side of the cloud either. Rainbow wasn't on the cloud, the filly came too early. She paced impatiently under the designated spot of the kaleidoscopic mare. She didn't know what to do, Rainbow wasn't here and Scootaloo had no idea where she would be. She didn't want to wait for the mare to come for her nap, every second of not telling her was wasting time.

Her head shot up as she began to move towards the marketplace. Scootaloo didn't know where Dash was, but maybe the mare's friends did. She looked around the place filled with busy ponies. She continued to trot but looked around for the other Elements. They weren't there yet. She looked up in the sky for any hope that the mare would just randomly appear, to no avail. She then remembered something, Applejack maybe had an idea where Rainbow was, she was the one to find her before, right?

She changed direction and sped off towards the farm. She maneuvered and went around other ponies, ignoring the cries of protest and anger to the young filly with the rampaging scooter. She felt familiar doing this sort of thing, she had done it all the time before the dark day. She felt a twinge of her old self in her veins as she performed.

She began to look for ramps to go on to go into the air and cover some land. It could help her get there faster, it had gotten to places quicker before. Her eyes scanned around her current location to find the boost into the air. Her eyes rested on a set of planks placed on the side of a barrel, a house was being currently built, and the process had created the perfect ramp. She moved towards the air projector and clutched the handlebars preparing to be launched.

The ride along with its passenger flew in the air, the wind being pushed against the form. Scootaloo closed her eyes, let go of her scooter, and allowed her body to soar, savoring this moment. Soaring through the air makes her feel light, making her above and superior to all her problems and depressions. She had always enjoyed this because this moment right now was one of the reasons she wanted to fly. To glide through the air, to land on clouds, and to perform amazing and jaw-dropping stunts all on her own, stunts that would even catch Rainbow Dash, the greatest flier in all of Equestria, off guard.

Her eyes opened just as she approached the ground, and she regained a grip on her mode of transport. Her scooter landed with a clunk as the impact shook the rider slightly. Ponies behind her watched in amazement. She continued to speed away, not taking any notice of the audience. She could see Sweet Apple Acres beyond a forest of apple trees. Her wings buzzed faster to the scene. She was almost there. She would ask Applejack where Rainbow was. If the mare was currently busy then she would go to the spot and wait for her to be done to tell her. That was a sooner way.

She now sped through the forest of red fruit growth following the paved path. Her head rose as she noticed something in the rapidly approaching distance. In front of her was the clubhouse where she and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders planned their meetings, entering the clubhouse were the other crusaders, and the blank flanked filly Scootaloo couldn't help for the third time. They stopped and watched as Scootaloo steered towards them, braking just in front of the ramp. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle approached the scooter riding filly, the unicorn opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the anxious pony.

"Hey, Applebloom! Hey, Sweetie Belle! No time to talk, have you seen Applejack anywhere?"

The other fillies looked over to each other in question and then turned back to the pegasus with a confused and concerned expression present on both of their faces.

"Um...yeah, she's out in the orchids." the farm pony pointed in the direction of a field of apple trees, some were shaking due to some impact, most likely hooves kicking at it. "Why do ya need ta see her?", Applebloom questioned, looking at the filly with curiosity. The orange pony sighed and turned towards the direction, her mouth opened as she spoke.

"I just need to talk to her.", her wings fluttered like the wings on a hummingbird, preparing for take-off after the filly removed her right hind leg on the ground.

"What do ya need to ta-"

As soon as her hind leg was removed from the earth, she sped off like a bullet towards the section of trees. As she left she only heard the beginning of the Appleblooms question. Her tail flowed behind her as she headed over to the area where the mare she needed to talk to, not even thinking about how she rudely left her friends in the middle of a conversation. She was only focused on finding the mare to warn her, she could talk to her friends later after she saved Rainbow. She very quickly neared the trees and in the distance was the blond mane and cowboy hat she needed to see.

"Applejack!", the filly called out to the mare, who in turn turned to the approaching source of the voice, who was speeding towards her at lightning speed. The cow mare's expression changed slightly to uneasiness as Scootaloo drew near in high speed, almost seeming to crash into the other pony. Luckily the filly stopped her scooter just in front of the nervous earth pony. Applejack relieved the foal didn't crash into her, smiled, and greeted the younger creature.

"Howdy Scootaloo! What brings you 'round here? Ya lookin' for mah sister and Sweetie Belle, Ah think Ah saw they're over at the clubhouse if ya-"

"Applejack, have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere?!", Scootaloo's breathes were tense. The farm pony was surprised for a moment but quickly thought that Scootaloo was just excited for the upcoming show later that day. Rainbow Dash had asked Applejack and the others, but they all had things to do that day, unlike the free pegasus. So, wanting somepony to witness her and her team's hard training for the show, she invited the crusaders, who accepted in ecstatic joy and excitement. She smiled and responded to the impatient pegasus.

"Well, Ah reckon she an' the other Wonderboltz are practicin' one more time before the big show ya'll are going to.", Scootaloo became more hopeful, she could warn her, she nodded quickly, she prepared to speed off once more when she saw her friends running towards her, along with the other filly. The two recognizable fillies were calling her name, they probably went after her when she sped off like that. Scootaloo smiled as they neared when they did, their hooves clip clipping on the dirt pavement. It took them a while to catch their breath, but when they finally did, Applebloom began to interrogate.

"Scootaloo...What's the big idea runnin' off like that?"

"Oh, uh...sorry about that guys, I just needed to ask Applejack something.", Sweetie Belle looked at her curiously.

"Ask her what?", before Scootaloo could respond, Applejack answered herself.

"Scootaloo was just wondering where Rainbow Dash was, Ah told her she was preparing for the big show you three are goin' to go to later. Ya must be pretty excited to see Dash perform huh?"

"Yep, I was just excited for the show, can't wait to see the awesome tricks and other stuff!", her smile never left her face, she had an idea. She was now going to use the idea three times, but it was the fastest way. The balloon Twilight owned would take hours to blow up.

"Hey, I need a favor from you guys.", The unicorn and earth pony turned to each other in confusion before turning back to the pegasus.

"What favor?"

"I need you both to help me get to Cloudsdale, I can't pull the sling myself.", Scootaloo's voice was now firm, and her face was serious. It wasn't normal for the normally cheery and spunky foal. It was only natural for the other two crusaders to become concerned and uneasy.

"Why do ya need to go to Cloudsdale?"

"I want to watch them practice, I want to see what they have planned.", Scootaloo was thankful she was quick to have an excuse.

"Okay...but why do you need to use the slingshot again? Isn't there less intense and harmful ways to get up there?", Sweetie Belle asked wondering what was going on.

"I-", Scootaloo looked away, "It's just faster, I don't want to miss it.", It went silent for a moment before Applejack spoke up.

"Well, faster or not, Ah don't think launching yourself from a slingshot a thousand feet in the air is such a good idea."

Scootaloo scowled.

"The balloon takes forever to fill up, by the time I get there it's going to be over. I can't wait, not this time.", confusion spread across the other ignorant pony's faces. Scootaloo spoke once more.

"I want to see her fly, want to tell her good luck that's all. I'm excited, that's why I can't wait. The slingshot is just a faster way.", nobody was relieved, but Applejack proposed a different idea.

"Hmm...maybe there's another, safer way."

Then what...? I fly all the way there? Newsflash I can't, that's why I need the slingshot., she thought bitterly before Applejack made a different, maybe quicker idea.

"Maybe Fluttershy or Twi could fly ya up there.", Scootaloo sighed, getting on her scooter. It was a pretty good idea, and it was worth a try asking the pegasus or alicorn to take her up there. But it would be useless if they didn't have free time.

"Okay, I'll ask them.", her wings buzzed, but her leg was soon held firmly on the ground as Applebloom began to speak to her once more.

"Hey, Scootaloo, you're actin' off. You doin' alright?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired. You guys have fun helping a fellow foal out.", she pointed to the very quiet pony who seemed to hardly talk. Just as that, she sped off, leaving her confused, concerned fellow pony's in the dust. She headed for Fluttershy since she was closer, she didn't feel like going all the way through town just to get a ride from a probably busy pony, who was a princess so most likely. Fluttershy seemed more willing to help her out anyway.

"Thanks for the lift Fluttershy.", Scootaloo dismounted from the yellow pegasus pony. Fluttershy did have some free time, and Scootaloo had managed to convince her to give her a ride up to Cloudsdale. While the ride wasn't quick like Scootaloo hoped, it felt a bit nice and almost peaceful. Her ride gave her a nod and a quiet acknowledgment.

"Oh...It was my pleasure. I'm sure Rainbow's excited for the show too...I mean she was really happy and said she couldn't wait for you to see all of their tricks. I'm just glad she found somepony to invite to her show, I just wish I could go too but I...", Scootaloo took no notice of Fluttershy's ramble and scanned the sky for the blue mare amongst the group of talented pegasi that gave the illusion of a bird flock. They were finishing up practicing for the show with all kinds of amazing tricks, and Scootaloo was captivated.

When they flew down to the odd field-covered clouds that she remembered her mission. She moved her eyes until they stopped on a familiar rainbow-maned pegasus. She immediately rushed over to the mare, crying out her name. Tears brimmed and almost spilled, but she held them back. She couldn't cry, she had to be brave. She had to be strong.

"Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!", The called pony turned to Scootaloo with a surprised look on her face.

"Scootaloo? What are y-Woah!", Rainbow was caught off as her young fan clung onto her tightly. The filly was shaking, maybe it was out of fear or from feeling her insides go cold out of dread, it wasn't clear. Her heart pounded out of nervousness about what she was about to say. She swallowed her anxiety deep down her throat but didn't make it go away. It didn't make it fade, but she had to try to speak.

"Rainbow Dash! I-I..." The dreadful image of the dead body flashed through her mind, making her voice die and become weak. "Y-you...Yo-you're going t-to...", her voice came out in stammers, and the tears began to form once more. She had tried, and all that came out of her efforts was a blubbering mess. Rainbow's gaze wasn't helping either, and her concerned voice only made it worse.

"Are...are you okay Scootaloo?", Scootaloo's heart pounded hard. It felt as if it were going to make her ribs burst and crumble, she was scared and awful and anxious that's for sure. It was hilarious. She had constantly told herself she had to warn and tell Rainbow, but she never thought about how she would do it. Just that she had to. Now here she was, bare and wordless, going to tell a wonderful pony awful news and she didn't even know how to do this damn task.

"Scootaloo?", Scootaloo moved her head up to meet concerned rose-colored eyes that belonged to her idol. The very pony who believed her and encouraged her. How was she supposed to do this? Her body knew she was horrible for doing this, seeing how it shut itself down when she attempted to. Her thoughts whirled for a second about what would happen and what she couldn't bring herself to do. Eventually, it came to one simple thought:

I need to do it. It'll happen again if I don't.

She swallowed thickly, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Rainbow Dash, you have to listen to me! I know this might be hard to believe but months from now you're going to be gone, and I'm not going to be able to stop it, but if you listen maybe we can tell Princess Celestia and maybe she can help us or at least tell us how to prevent it and...", she gasped from talking without breathing in between her speech, she didn't try to speak again, she knew her voice was now weak. She ran out of fuel, out of confidence. She just hoped Dash would take her saying seriously. She waited for what seemed like years to her.

"I'm g-going to...what...huh?", those words were what Scootaloo was met with, and it made her collapse completely. She didn't know what else to do, what to say. She had tried, and she failed. This was on her for not planning, for just acting without a full way to tell somepony of this incredible ordeal. The more she thought about what she said, the more she began to realize, she wouldn't believe herself either. Time travel was a very powerful ability, an ability that only very few and powerful unicorns could make a spell to do. An object being able to do so was never known.

"Everything handled Dash?", the voice of Spitfire caught the mare's attention. Rainbow only nodded, she was confused and uneasy, her voice was blocked with shock at the outburst. The orange-maned mare nodded before she and the other teammates flew away to have a break, leaving the other three pegasi alone to talk on the landing platform.

"S-Scootaloo, what are you talking about?", the disbelief in her voice only made Scootaloo sink further in her doubt, but the small shock present only made her dwell in her guilt. She then narrowed her eyes in determination. She came this far to tell her, she couldn't back out now. She swallowed for the third time and spoke once more, quietly.

"In two months from now...you're going to...be gone.", the air went quiet, and everything around the two ponies seemed to freeze. Scootaloo could feel her heart vibrating in her chest. The younger mare could now only hear the faint echoes of the beating organ in her ears.

"Oh, my...is everything alright?", the gentle voice of Fluttershy broke the silence but had no effect on the uncomfortable feeling in the air. Scootaloo didn't make an effort to respond, her voice was now dysfunctional at that point. It was silent before her idol spoke, not seeming to take any notice of the new speaker.

"Scootaloo, what do you mean I'm going to be gone, I'm right here aren't I?", disbelief again. This time, Scootaloo could only close her eyes and shake her head with a sorrowful expression. Her voice had done what it was supposed to do, it had no purpose to work anymore. Hooves approached her, and the filly moved her head up to look at her confused sister. Her mouth opened and her words were only hesitant. At last, she turned her head once more and whispered the only words her body would allow out of her.

"It's true...I saw it. You left me and the others. I was so lonely Rainbow...", tears were now forming again, threatening to leak, but Scootaloo lost all strength to fight them back. They pattered on the black runway and her body shook as she quietly sobbed. It was quiet and under the gaze of her hero, crying in front of her, Scootaloo felt an inch tall. She felt weak, felt so fragile, and she couldn't seem to think straight. Whimpers escaped her lips despite her pathetic effort to keep quiet.

"Look Scootaloo," the filly felt the warmth and pressure of a hoof on her shoulder, "I don't know where you heard all of this from. But I'm not going to just disappear. I'm right here, I'm not going to leave you or the others, I haven't done it before." Scootaloo moved away from the hoof that tried to comfort her. She wished that statement were true, but she knew that it would happen again if she didn't at least try to stop it. Didn't at least try to make Dash listen to her.

"N-no...it's true. I saw it. I know.", She did know. Because how could she forget something so important, when she experienced it and saw it with her own eyes. Fluttershy spoke this time.

"Saw what Scootaloo?", her soft and gentle voice filled with hesitance made Scootaloo only feel weaker. Scootaloo's words were shortened into only mumbles and murmurs of 'I'm not lying' and 'I saw it. The two adult ponies didn't understand at all, and that fact left them both unsettled. Rainbow started down at her temporary little sister. She was shaking now, and the rainbow-maned mare was worried.

"Scoot...", Rainbow took her wing and pulled Scootaloo close, but the filly only squirmed her way out of it. She didn't dislike the feeling of her sister's warm wing being used to embrace her, she just couldn't do it. She didn't want to hear her nickname either, no, this was important. Heart pounding with real dread, she took a deep breath and finally screamed out what she needed to say:

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! I WATCHED IT HAPPEN!", at last, she collapsed fully on the ground in a ball of sobs and sorrow. She did it. She said it, all she could do now was hope Dash believed her. All she was met with, amongst her sobs, was bitter silence. The first sign of disbelief. Her heart now pounded with anticipation, as she waited for her now warned idol to respond.

She had to wait a while before it finally came.

...

"Scootaloo...are you okay"

...that's what she heard. Scootaloo moved her eyes up to her big sister. It was only then that she realized all that came out of her mouth were gags, pathetic attempts to speak. It was only in her head, she never said it out loud. Her heart stopped for a moment and Scootaloo felt her insides go ice cold. She looked up at her older sister who was looking at her with concern and looked a little weirded out by her behavior. Rightfully so, she would be weirded out if a pony came up to her and started crying and made sounds that sounded like they were being choked.

Oh, Celestia...she needed to shut her mouth.

She moved her mouth like a rusty steel machine, with slow halting movements before it finally closed with a clack of her teeth. Now she only stared at her older sister and nodded. Now she stared at the ground in silence. The silence of a failure. She had failed. Hard. Her ears blocked out what her idol began to tell her. She didn't deserve anything that came out of Rainbow's mouth. No praise or even concern. Some part of her mind flashed.

You failed...Pathetically.

She did, and it was pathetic. But she couldn't help it. It was awful news nopony would want to give to anypony. Especially since this person was someone who enjoyed life more than anything. She had good reason to, she had loving parents who supported her at everything no matter what, she had wonderful friends, had her dream job; she had everything. But in the next moment, she would have nothing.

Scootaloo felt herself being wrapped by a soothing comfort that was simply the blue mares wing and being pressed against warm fur in a hug of reassurance. She was anything but that. Under the fur she was up against she could feel her idol's relaxed breathing, expanding her chest, and being brought back down. But being moved against Dash's chest, she could feel the strong and quick heartbeat. A feeling she wouldn't feel any longer if she didn't try again.

And again. And again. Again...

Before she could, however, she was removed from the embrace. She looked up at her older sister, who was smiling comfortingly.

"See? Everything's fine squirt."

Scootaloo did not smile back. She didn't notice when she and her surrogate sister bid Fluttershy a 'see ya' when she had to go back down to her daily tasks. She was not happy when they headed back to the academy for Dash to change out of her suit. She did not feel reassured when Dash gave her a ride back down to Ponyville and decided to spend time with her. She did not react when the conversation between AppleJack and Rainbow was repeated.

All of it just repeated. So will her death because she failed. And as she laid on her bed, in her house under the night sky, her lips tightened and her eyes narrowed in determination. She had to try again, no matter what would happen.

Scootaloo paced impatiently in her room for her foal sitter to show up. This was another chance. Another chance to warn her without blubbering. Before she just went without practicing, but now she was ready. She prepared by speaking into a mirror, imagining her reflection as Dash. Even then it was hard, but when she got used to saying it, it became easier. So easy that it was as if it was a normal conversation.

It wasn't, Scootaloo knew that. But she prepared, and all that practice couldn't go to waste.

"Scootaloo!", the sound of her Aunt Lofty calling her brought her attention. She wasted no time rushing down the stairs, her hooves and weight causing the floorboards to creak and groan. When she reached the bottom floor she was met with the familiar sight of her two Aunts getting ready to leave, a suitcase on the sand-colored pegasus's back. She smiled at her Aunts.

"Are you two ready to go already?", they both nodded and smiled back at the filly. Aunt Holiday then began to speak.

"Now remember, since we won't be back until late, Rainbow Dash will stay with you tonight until we get back. You'll be asleep before then, but can you behave until then?", Scootaloo nodded.

"Yeah, I'll behave."

"And if you want something to snack on, heh heh, I left you some cookies.", Aunt Lofty winked towards Scootaloo with a smile. Holiday chuckled before interjecting with her rule.

"But... wait a while before you do, you've already eaten dinner, you don't need to stuff yourself even more.", Scootaloo smiled, then agreed to her relative's rule.

"Don't worry I wasn't planning on it actually.", she didn't feel like having cookies for what she needed to do. Cookies made her feel a bit nauseous. The three ponies then moved outside, as they did before. Scootaloo thought about that even more and thought it was almost funny. This already happened to her, yet her aunts thought this was the original, haven't had in a while chat. It just barely lightened her mood.

Just barely.

Her eyes scanned the sky once more for the Rainbow mare. They eventually found and followed the rainbow streak as it landed beside her aunts. They then engaged in the same chat as before, but Scootaloo wouldn't wait. She moved in between her aunts and her idol.

"Yeah yeah, I think she knows all the rules and whatever. Now come on Rainbow Dash!", She grabbed the blue pony's foreleg and began to drag her to the house.

"Now hold on Scootaloo, we need to make sure she knows all the rules and-"

"Don't worry, I remember the rules!", Rainbow boasted, "You two just go and do your stuff that you need to do, I got this." Scootaloo felt a sense of thankfulness towards Dash as she said those words. The Holiday looked at Lofty and back at Rainbow, who smiled with ease.

"Okay, if you're sure.", she was nudged by Lofty.

"Aw, it'll be fine Holiday, she's done this before remember? Now come on, if we leave now we'll be able to catch the train up to Canterlot. It's not every day you get a seller up there.", she chuckled before she and her lover made their way toward the train station, stopping for a second to wave back to Scootaloo, who quickly waved back before dragging Rainbow into the house.

"Woah Scoot, I know you're excited but jeez, don't pull my leg off!", Scootaloo took no notice of this and, muttering a quick and unmeaning 'sorry', continued to drag the mare inside. Once inside the filly closed the door behind her and turned towards the mare, who was now hovering, her great wings lifting her in excitement.

"Alright Scootaloo, are you ready for an awesome night because I have a lot of ideas on what we can do. Though which one should we do first.", a blue hoof tapped her chin to think. But Scootaloo couldn't waste any more time.

"Rainbow, I need to tell you something before we do anything.", Rainbow stopped and moved her attention to the filly. Scootaloo took a deep breath before continuing.

"I need you to listen closely to what I'm about to say because this is very important.", She had Rainbow's full attention thanks to the seriousness and lack of any joy in her voice, "In about one and a half months from now, something terrible is going to happen to you."

"What? What are you saying, what happens", pure confusion, but this time the filly held her ground, but she still couldn't keep the tears from brimming in her eyes.

"You-you're going to...", her eyes weakened.

No Scootaloo! You need to warn her...you know it'll happen again if you don't. You practiced in a mirror for this, don't let all practice that be for nothing. Deep breaths, and use your voice! She's here, you have her attention., Her eyes hardened as she gave herself this pep talk, and while the tears were still there, it didn't stop her from saying what she needed to say days ago.

"You're going to...die.", her voice quavered and tears streamed down her face as the ghastly image of the deformed and ripped parts of the mare's dead body flashed in her mind again, some wounds on the mare real, but some of the wounds were created by a twisted imagination she didn't think she had. She continued to talk though, now blubbering and whining.

"I-I don't know how it'll happen, but I know I saw it and I didn't want to believe it was real but it was. It wasn't fair that I lost you Rainbow, wasn't fair at all. I was so sad, but then I found something that took me back. Celestia must be giving me another chance to stop this, a miracle. I'm warning you Rainbow, warning you of the future. I don't want you to die, so I'm warning you! I'm warning you, and you have to believe me! I know I might sound crazy but it's true I saw it! I'm not lying...I really did see it...It was awful..." She now laid on the floor, awaiting Dash's response. A response she hoped would be belief, a careful cautious obeying.

What she got was anything but those things.

"Scoota...I'm what...you saw...huh?", Confusion. Disbelief. Fear...that's what she was met with. She looked up to see the mare's face. All she found was uneasiness, confusion, and most notably; a small sliver of fear. Scootaloo only nodded. There was a clip-clop as Rainbow's hooves landed on the wooden floor gently. Tears continued to stream down Scootaloo's face. There was an only tense silence between the two ponies.

Badum...Badum...

Her heartbeat increased, and now it was all she heard. It echoed in her eardrums as its vibrations rang out throughout her body. She did it, she really did it. She felt like the scum of the earth. But this had to happen. If Celestia was giving her another chance, this, warning Rainbow, would be the only reason that seemed reasonable. Just seeing the mare isn't a reason for something the Princess wouldn't give out to anypony. Especially an average pony like Scootaloo.

But she had this chance, and she used the chance to warn. Even if the warning sounded unbelievable, especially since it was coming from a child. Rainbow believing her was all that mattered, if her recent try didn't work, then she wasted it. She was wasting her chance if Rainbow didn't believe her. But if it didn't work, and if it happened again, then she was a failure. A failure with pathetic attempts to convince an older pony of something impossible.

"Scootaloo....", the zoned-out pony felt a hoof on her shoulder, which was shaking her out of her thoughts accompanied with a voice. Dash was looking at her with worry and confusion. When the mare knew she had the filly's attention, she spoke once more.

"What are you talking about? W-what do you mean I'm going to...", Rainbow trailed off and moved her head away for a second. She closed her eyes, an act that appeared to be her regaining her posture. A lump moved down Rainbow's blue throat as she swallowed before continuing, asking the question Scootaloo dreaded to answer.

"What do you mean I'm going to die...?", Scootaloo tried to wipe the waterfall of tears staining her cheeks. Failing, she moved her head to look up at Rainbow and swallowed as well.

"I-I saw it and...and there was a storm, and you tried to get rid of it and...but you failed and I had to go to your funeral...I was so lonely, and I thought you were gone. But then I-I found a way back, and I can save you, but you have to listen to me! You have to believe me...I saw it Rainbow...I know what will happen to you if...if you don't listen to me", Keeping her gaze on her big sister, she saw Rainbow look even more confused now. A barely surfaced internal struggle of emotions and thoughts danced across her face. Scootaloo watched silently as Dash's eyes then suddenly widened with some kind of realization, and she gave her sister a small smile mixed with understanding and pity.

Before Scootaloo knew it, she was wrapped in a wing once more and pulled closer to Rainbow. Close to the mare's chest, to her beating heart. Dash's voice met her ears, and it was soft and understanding. Unfortunately, it was a wrong kind of understanding.

"I see, heh, that must have been a pretty bad dream all right...But it's okay, I'm right here. That dream is never going to happen, okay? If there ever was something like that, well, a little storm could never keep me down..."

"But Rainbow-It was real, it wasn't a dream! It was real, I know it was, that's why I'm trying to"

"I know, dreams can sometimes seem real. I know I had some nightmares that almost made me think that I lost everything or stuff like I couldn't fly anymore...But then I wake up, and it never actually happened."

"No, no you're not listening to me! You died...I-I watched it ha-apen you're not....you're going to d-d-di...", all that came out of Scootaloo's mouth were choked sobs as she collapsed in Rainbow's hooves, too weak to balance herself anymore. Her eyes went wide, she failed. Again. She tried to tell the mare she wanted to fly but she would never be able to fly again due to a horrible event that took her away. An event that destroyed Scootaloo with grief and depression.

As Rainbow continued to speak comfort and sympathy, Scootaloo drowned her out with her thoughts.

I failed again...I can't even speak anymore...All I can do is just cry...cry like a baby., there was no use trying to push it even more right now. Rainbow only thought that her warnings were her remembering of a nightmare, and Scootaloo couldn't even speak anymore. Not tonight, tomorrow was another chance, or maybe that sister camping trip a couple of weeks away. She would try again tomorrow or the day after that. She wouldn't give up until Rainbow believed her and stayed safe that day.

Despite her measurement, she continued to cry...and cry...until her eyes hurt and stung and she felt lightheaded. She couldn't even move her now-shaking jaw to make words. All she could do was cling to the soon-to-be deceased pony and cry until she was out of tears.

After the dream exchange, Scootaloo was so wrung out all she could do was sit and listen to her idol's stories about being in the Wonderbolts or her and her friends defeating an enemy. Eventually, she fell asleep, unconscious when Rainbow carefully took her up to her bed, but her ears barely twitched as her subconscious took note of the thumping noise the mare's wings made.

Thump Thump
Thump Thump
Thump Thump...

"Why didn't you listen Rainbow...? Why didn't you believe me...?"

Scootaloo's mutters didn't help the matter. Rainbow had gone out to remove the storm, Scootaloo knew this. She knew this because she and other ponies had been in a search party to look for the mare. It had been only two days after the day of the storm, and now Rainbow was gone once more. Scootaloo had tried to warn the brave mare of her fate for days. But when it had been dismissed as a bad dream, Scootaloo persisted this wasn't the case and continued to warn the mare.

Her perseverance only creeped her hero out, and Dash then went to avoid her altogether. Scootaloo in a way understood she would too avoid a pony who would tell her she would die every chance they got. However, this did not help her frustration with Rainbow's denial. The mare continued to dismiss this as something Scootaloo's subconscious made, that it wasn't the truth, and therefore a big deal. Now she was "missing" along with other pegasi and, surprisingly some unicorns and earth ponies.

But then they found her, and they regretted it. Sobs and screams were heard, and the gruesome sight had been made once more. Scootaloo did scream, but it was now not in horror anymore, it was in anguish of her failure. After that, she and the other fillies had been removed from the sight. Then, two days later a funeral for the mare was attended. Tears were shed, cries of grief had been heard. Even her own, with a now added feeling of guilt.

She should have tried harder but made a different approach to tell Rainbow without being seen as creepy or clingy. Now, in her bedroom under the shining full moon on the night after Rainbows funeral, she held the pocket watch in her hoof. She had something to help her with another chance. To go back once more, and to take a different approach to her warnings. Her other hoof moved and pressed down on the left notch.

Once again the pocket watch glowed a blinding purple light that consumed the small pony. No lively thing was left, the pocket watch had now vanished, but her body was still there. Her eyes were now dull as her body fell to the floor with a hard thud. The vessel didn't move, but it didn't have to. Its use in this timeline was now complete...

Scootaloo opened her eyes as she entered the up and down tunnel once more. Her eyes narrowed. She felt she wouldn't be scared anymore of this fall. But then, the clocks were there, chiming harshly, maybe even harsher than before. Ass her eyes trailed to look at the clocks she noticed a small change. The clocks were now duller and had some sort of ugly black substance dripping down from inside them, its gears were most likely soaked in the sticky tar that seemed as if it were from another world. It made Scootaloo feel uneasy. A shiver went down her spine.

As her eyes moved from the clocks in an attempt to shield herself from the awful sight, another detail was caught. The recently ink-black emptiness was now a rich red, the reddest red the filly had ever seen. To her, it almost looked like liquid, maybe cherry juice, liquid somehow avoiding her and the clocks as if it were being poured onto a see-through object like glass.

The now red "walls" were getting closer, and for a while, she was in a narrow space like before. As they did, Scootaloo smelt a foul, metal stench enter her nostrils. It made her gag and cover her snout. She closed her eyes as the walls got closer, praying it wouldn't crush her in its repulsiveness.

Then the strong and bitter odor soon faded and Scootaloo opened her eyes to see the "walls" were getting further and further until it was at its normal place at the beginning of the fall. She sighed in a small sense of relief before noticing the all too familiar hole of her exit in this portal. Only now it seemed to reach for her, yet no arms or hands reached out for her, it just seemed that way to her.

And it made Scootaloo feel small and helpless in its vast presence.

She didn't have a chance though when the wide pool took in her form once more.

And the Timeline was reset for the third time